#I am begging you to have a crumb of situational awareness

[deweydecimalchickens]

Help me I am on a group walk with people who spread out to cover the whole path and walk very slowly along one of the most established cycle routes in the area and then UNIRONICALLY complain about cyclists going past.

#PICK A SIDE #it's their path #We are obstructing it #I am begging you to have a crumb of situational awareness #This is why I hate walking in groups

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

𝑀𝑎𝑓𝑖𝑎! 𝐴𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑧: 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝐴𝑛 𝐼𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑆/𝑂 (𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑)

Warning: This reaction contains NSFW content that might not be suitable for some. Read at your own discretion.

Disclaimer: In no way am I condoning, supporting, justifying or encouraging mafia activities or lifestyle. This is all fictional and not meant to represent real life scenarios.

❁𝓚𝓲𝓶 𝓗𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓳𝓸𝓸𝓷𝓰

Hongjoong was very well aware of how innocent you were, yet he never teased you about it nor babied you like others would. And he especially never pressured you or even brought up anything remotely sexual. He knew you'd let him know when you were ready to take that step in the relationship.

When the moment did come, he was surprised by your actions. You came into the room and straddled his lap.

"Baby? What are you?-"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence as you began kissing him hungrily, your hips grinding down on him. He was shocked by your sudden boldness, but he wasn't complaining. He kissed you back, his hands roaming down to grip your ass, taking control of your movements. You may have initiated this, but no way was he going to let you be in charge.

When your hand tried to slip into his jeans, he stopped you and smirked.

"Hold on baby. There'll be plenty of time for that later. First.."

Without warning, he got you off him and sat you down on the bed, his hands swiftly pulling your pants and panties off from you. Feeling shy again, you closed your legs, making Hongjoong chuckle.

"Not so brave anymore, are you love?"

Taking hold of your ankles, he pushed your legs apart to take in the sight of you. He had waited so long for this moment and he couldn't believe it. He got down in front of you, loving the way your cheeks turned pink and looked at him, waiting to see what he had planned.

"Don't worry baby. Just relax and leave everything to me."

He sent you a wink before he buried his face in between your legs, unable to hold back anymore. You gave him the green light and he was going to go for it.

❁𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓢𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓱𝔀𝓪

Seonghwa loved how pure and innocent you were. It was no secret he got turned on by the thought of one day ruining you and staining your innocence, with your consent of course.

He wanted to hear you beg him to fuck you, to claim you as his and only his. He wanted you to writhe and moan underneath his body. But to get that, he had to make you want it.

That's why he often did little things to make you frustrated: whether it was by working out in front of you shirtless, caressing your sides while you tried cooking, kissing your neck more and more, whispering in your ear, and even licking off crumbs of food that got on your lips.

"What?" He'd often act like he didn't know what he was doing when you looked at him with a surprised expression.

The final straw for you was when he came back from a meeting, dressed in a suit. God how you loved it when he wore a suit, it just made him more irresistible. And you had been frustrated since the morning when he came out of the shower in a towel and his wet hair made you picture dirty scenes in your head. Gathering your courage, you suddenly blurted out:

"Seonghwa please fuck me."

He looked at you with a raised eyebrow and your courage vanished, thinking maybe it wasn't the time to say that. But Seonghwa smiled, feeling accomplished of himself. He began unbuttoning his suit jacket, never taking his lust filled eyes from you as he commanded:

"Strip for me baby."

❁𝓙𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓨𝓾𝓷𝓱𝓸

Even though he was a fearsome mafia boss, Yunho had the utmost respect for you. He loved you, adored you so much. He showed you the side of him he himself had forgotten he owned: the soft, caring and puppy like personality he was capable of showing. But it was only reserved for you and only you.

He knew you were a virgin and for that reason never even thought of overstepping any boundaries that would make you uncomfortable. 5 months later and he was still asking for permission to hold your hand.

He was elated yet scared when you told him one day that you wanted him to be your first.

"A-are you sure love? This is a big decision. I don't want you to regret anything." He voiced his concerns for you.

But after assuring him you wanted this, he gave in. He took utmost care of you, making sure to pleasure you and prep you so it wouldn't be too uncomfortable for you. He wanted you to feel safe and loved during your first time. He also made sure to shower you with praises.

"You're doing so well love. You're so beautiful."

He kept a slow and steady pace, his lips constantly kissing yours or your forehead, his hands holding onto yours as he looked down on you with love and adoration. He felt your nails claw his back and your legs wrap around his waist, your clenching walls signaling to him that you were close.

"It's ok baby, just let it go. Cum for me."

Yunho swears there's no more beautiful scene than watching your face contort with pleasure as you moan and whimper underneath him. He came inside you just seconds after, unable to hold back anymore.

But finally you were his and he was yours forever.

❁𝓚𝓪𝓷𝓰 𝓨𝓮𝓸𝓼𝓪𝓷𝓰

Yeosang lived for teasing you. He found it adorable how your cheeks would turn red every time he did or said anything mildly suggestive. Not one day went by when he didn't make you get flustered by his actions or words.

He especially loved making even the most innocent of situations turn suggestive and when you called him out on it, he'd feign innocence and instead would say you were the dirty minded one, making you get even more flustered and unable to say anything anymore.

You were in the process of baking a cherry pie one day. You wanted to make something special for yours and Yeosang's anniversary. Yeosang walked in and saw the current state of the kitchen.

"Babe. What's this?" He eyed you curiously.

"It's to make a pie." You explained as you began taking the stems off the cherries.

Yeosang chuckled as he caught you more than once popping a cherry into your mouth instead of the bowl.

"If you keep popping the cherries like that, there won't be enough for the actual pie you know."

You pouted a little.

"Can't help it. They're just so good."

Picking one up, you held it out for him to eat.

"Wanna try one?"

Yeosang couldn't pass away the opportunity. He leaned in and ate the cherry from your fingers, making sure to suck on the tip of one of them, making you widen your eyes just a bit. Clearing your throat, you asked:

"I take it you liked it?"

Yeosang hummed before responding:

"Sure.....but that's not the cherry I wanted to pop today."

He winked at you and left the room, leaving you stunned at his words.

❁𝓒𝓱����𝓲 𝓢𝓪𝓷

Every one often wondered how was it that the infamous Choi San was in an actual relationship, a serious one. And it was even more puzzling for his friends when they met you.

You were the complete opposite of San. You were such an innocent little thing, while San was known as the biggest Casanova in the mafia world. They often questioned his loyalty to you, which he proved time and time again that he was faithful to you and that he did love you. His friends were so happy to see him finally settle down, to actually love and be loved by someone.

Was it your innocence that attracted San? Partly yes. But San also knew you weren't all that innocent, at least not after you got involved with him. Everything about him is sinful, and he was bound to corrupt you sooner or later, which he loved doing.

He loved how you were currently trying to hold back your moans as he pounded into you from behind. You let your head hung low, unable to see the reflection in the mirror, blushing hard.

"Nuh uh sweetheart. Don't pretend to be shy now. You were practically begging me to fuck you when you came in dressed like that."

San grabbed a hold of your hair and made you look up at the mirror, watching as he smirked at you through hazy eyes.

"Don't deny it. Beneath that innocent face, we both know you're just my little cockslut."

❁𝓢𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓜𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓲

Your innocent and pure nature was exactly the reason why Mingi fell for you in the first place. He remembers that moment very clearly.

He was standing all alone in the rain, his heart feeling as dark as the black night. He was in really low spirits. He saw no point in life anymore. It seemed to him as if there was nothing left in this world that was good. He just saw bad everywhere. A long life of crime often makes you think that.

Suddenly he felt the rain above him stop. He looked up and saw an umbrella held over him. Turning around, he saw you. You were on your tip toes, holding the umbrella as high as you possibly could, which wasn't easy since Mingi was a giant.

His heart melted when you smiled at him and said:

"It's too cold and unsafe to be out like this. Do you want me to walk you home?"

He was used to having people fear him, yet here you were, not afraid of him nor looking at him like he was a monster. And even after spending time with him and finding out who he was, you didn't look at him in disgust or repulsion.

He couldn't help but fall for you then. He loved you and made it his mission to keep you safe and protected from the dark, cold world he was a part of.

He especially loves coming home to you. Wrapping his arms behind you, he inhales your scent as you stir the food in front of you.

"Mingi." You call out to him.

"Mmmmm?" He mumbles, already dozing off in your embrace.

"I need to get something." You tell him.

"Hold on. Just let me stay like this a few more seconds."

But you know it wouldn't last just a few seconds. Not when his hands began roaming around your body, not when the chaste kisses he pressed to your shoulders turned more heated and he bit down on the exposed skin.

Pressing a kiss to your ear, he whispered softly:

"Let me make love to you."

❁𝓙𝓾𝓷𝓰 𝓦𝓸𝓸𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰

Wooyoung didn't even want to attend the meeting with the other mafia boss. He knew he was a stubborn old man who never agreed to anything and always looked down at Wooyoung for being so young, though in reality he knew he just resented him for being successful at such a young age in the criminal world.

But he doesn't regret it. Not when you, the old geezer's daughter, came in for a brief moment to give dear old dad a message. Wooyoung's eyes lit up when he saw you. And you yourself were captivated by him. Having been so sheltered by an overprotective father, you rarely ever saw men your age, and especially not as handsome as Wooyoung. You were so innocent, so naive and having met Wooyoung, you wanted him to ruin you. And he was more than happy to seduce such an innocent little thing like you.

That's how your risky romance started. First with tiny notes that evolved into risky text messages, and the once stolen kisses in corners turned to love scenes in Wooyoung's bedroom.

"Look at you being such a dirty girl. What would your father say if he saw you like this?"

You threw your head back at Wooyoung's words, the thought of your father catching you both terrifying and thrilling you.

Wooyoung smirked as he felt you clench around him.

"Oh you like that don't you? Who would have thought the perfect angel was such a little whore?"

His hands gripped your waist as he thrusted his hips up at you, hitting a new angle that would have you coming in seconds.

"Go on baby, I want you to scream my name as you cum. I want everyone to know that only I can make you feel this good. That this little pussy is mine and I own it.....

I want your dad to know that I'm the one who corrupted you, my little angel."

❁𝓒𝓱𝓸𝓲 𝓙𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓱𝓸

When his friends said they wanted to go out and have fun, this wasn't what Jongho had in mind. Even though it was common for mafia bosses to go out once in a while, get wasted, have half naked women grind on their laps, and maybe take 1 or 2 home with them, it wasn't his cup of tea. He never enjoyed these types of things.

His eyes began to scan the area before they landed on you. You were just sitting there in one of the tables, looking completely out of place. You were dressed a lot more conservatively than what the environment asked for and judging by your untouched liquor, he could tell it was your first time in these types of places. The way you awkwardly looked over at your friends was an even bigger clue.

He couldn't help it when he let out a soft smile at you, amazed by your totally innocent and quiet aura. San and Wooyoung tried to snap him out of his trance, then looking over at you, they finally understand what was wrong with Jongho.

"Hey man, if you're into girls like that, you could have just said so. I'm sure it won't be so hard to get her into bed."

Jongho glared at San's suggestion.

"I'm not a fucking pervert that just thinks about getting his dick wet like you idiots." He scoffed.

Wooyoung snorted.

"So what? Are you going to go over there? Ask her for her number and take her on a date?" He teased the younger male.

They never expected him to, but he did. And not only did he get your number and a date, but he actually started a relationship with you...... and he eventually did get you into bed with him, but to him that's just the bonus in all this.

Gifs not mine, credit goes to their respective owners.

#ateez #ateez reactions #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez mafia au #mafia!ateez #mafia!au #ateez hongjoong #ateez seonghwa #ateez yunho #ateez yeosang #ateez san #ateez mingi #ateez wooyoung #ateez jongho #ateez smut

[braineater444]

did you have any plans on kaku and y/ns strange relationship they had going on?? please...i beg of you, any crumb will suffice ;-;

Well ofc I did and they were a little less fucked up than everything else… in my opinion…

Tw: Stockholm Syndrome, Abuse??

Y/n was supposed to fall in love with him and Kaku would obviously play into it but guess what??? Koko tells her he has a girlfriend (“soon to be fiancé really…”) and is just playing nice with her. He even tells her that Kakucho would kill her if Mikey told him too… but the only thing that stuck was about his relationship.

Y/n never brings it up to Kakucho, so it’s never confirmed or denied by Kakucho himself. Still, it does do a number on how she acts towards him and creates distance that he’s insistent on closing because he pities her. Kakucho absolutely has hero syndrome and doesn’t even realize it.

It doesn’t take much doting from him for her to be putty in his hands again anddddd its not that Kakucho is purposely being a manipulative asshole BUT!!! He plays y/n like a violin and thinks he’s doing nothing wrong. It’s scary for a guy like him who, despite killing people and destroying lives (for YEARS), believes he’s better than his counterparts because “he doesn’t actually want to do this.”

It’s dissonance or denial with him.

Unfortunately for Kakucho, babysitting Y/N forces him to confront things within himself and it has her trying to impress him and make him fall in love at every turn. He does actually have to realize that hes a bad person surrounded by a sea of other bad people. But how does this realization take full form?

Sleeping with Y/N the first time. It’s all technically consensual and she even dresses up for him wearing that blue dress he liked more than her. It’s probably the best sex either of them have had in their whole LIVES, but he feels a sneaking guilt about the whole situation. The problem only exasperates itself when she admits that she “loves him” and asks if he reciprocates her feelings and he shakes his head. Saying he loved her would be going too far for him… and he’s a capable liar, but he can’t bring himself to tell that one. His honesty even goes as far as him saying “I don’t think anyone in this house will ever love you.” And all she can do is cry because??? Its so out of character for him to be mean to her.

His internal monologue the whole time is “Am I only being nice to her because I know this is wrong?” She’s just wiping away tears and riding him to orgasm while he’s so checked out and can hardly control the words that come out of his mouth.

When its over?? She watches as as he fixes himself up and notices the scars on his shoulder that can only be from a bullet… and realizes that he’s just as bad as everyone else. He’s just as complicit in her abuse as the Rindou and Sanzu. Kaku has to sit with the same newfound awareness as y/n.

It goes over horribly for the both of them because it leads to quite the turbulent relationship later on…. Feel free to ask me abt that too lol.

#mbfc #!kaku!

[dreamii-yume]

@shikigamiuwu said :

“Epel’s have a crush to y/n since they meet them and has confessed there love for y/n many times but y/n reject him. So since it was here birthday he thought of confessing again since he has birthday pass, but Y/n reject him again since he has a crush to Vil or Rook (whoever you want) to Epel’s demise, so Epel’s became so frustrated and angry that he just rape y/n and manipulate him on think y/n is not worthy to be with Vil’s so he can have y/n for himself.”

••••••••••

You, my good bitch, have sent like- four big-brained ideas for not only Epel but SILVER BIRTHDAY CRUMBS and I am ascending. Yume does not deserve this, I–

Warnings : Non-Consensual Touching | Non-Con | Yandere

“I like you.”

If it happened to be your first-time hearing Epel say those three words to you in such an affectionate manner, words that are obviously meant to be taken as a confession, it would’ve been enough to put you through a coma because of shock. You’ll be all flustered and probably stutter like a toddler learning how to speak for the first time, trying to figure out if it was a joke or not, despite the obvious signs. I mean...It was a confession from such a beautiful boy after all and you don’t really consider yourself as someone who can reach that level of beauty so, how can you not panic? If it were the first time, you wouldn’t know what to do, what words you should say, or which feelings you should prioritize. You’d be totally lost!

Except…This was no first time.

How many times had this beautiful boy confessed to you over the course of a few months? You weren’t counting, but you do know that you rejected each one of them respectfully and thoroughly. You didn’t why he kept coming back, he’s a lot more persistent than he lets on. “...How many times are you gonna tell me that?” You can answer him as differently as you want, but Epel would only smile at you and say the same thing every time.

“Until you can say that you like me back.”

The first time was as true as it could get, you were flustered, in the state of disbelief, plenty of eye movements going everywhere, grateful but unsure, and nervous sweat formed on your forehead. He loves you in a romantic sense, but even if he was someone precious to you, you just can’t see him as someone more than a really good friend, family even. “...But I keep telling you, I already like someone else.” It was your only excuse; it was a weak reason but at least it wasn’t a lie, Epel should know it more than anyone. It shuts him up, unable to say anything that could counteract your words and at first glance, it looks like a sign of giving up but soon, he’d just shrug it off like you never said anything in the first place.

It was troublesome, Epel wasn’t forcefully pushing his personal ideologies into you but having to tell you something that you already know is tiring to say the least. You wanted to be polite and even appreciate his honesty, but the more times he confesses, the more desensitized you get. Your rejections went from being apologetic to giving out an exasperated sigh and a shake of your head, just wanting to get it over with. It’ll just be the same anyways, the same confession and the same response, there was no point in sugar coating your words at this point.

“I like you.”

Epel might have thought that he’d get the response he wanted if he confesses to you on his birthday, but you could just shake your head in pity. No, you weren’t going to give in to the fact that it’s his special day and feel obligated to reciprocate his feelings because of it. You’d be lying otherwise, and you’re not about to build a relationship out of lies...Seriously, when is he ever going to stop terrorizing you with all these confessions, you’re starting to feel really bad about yourself here.

“Like I said a million times before, Epel.” You narrowed your eyebrows together with a stern and impeccable voice. “I don’t like you that way, I have someone I already like—“

“It’s Vil-san, right?”You widened your eyes as you looked back at Epel, surprised that he gave up a different answer than the usual. He was wearing the same smile as he does before, but up until now, you just can’t stand the fact on how empty it feels.

“H-How did you—“

“It’s obvious. Anyone could easily guess it if they observed you enough...Especially with how you constantly you look at him.” He said, his clear cerulean eyes burning holes into your soul. This made your cheeks flushed, quickly looking down...Do you really act that weird when it comes to Vil? It’s true that he makes your heart flutter and his presence was just something that you can’t turn a blind eye into but...You always thought that you were keeping your feelings cool and low. “What, don’t tell me you’re not aware of it yourself?”

Epel laughed, his hand covering his mouth like a delicate princess. “You’re really funny, charming even when your making such a dumb face too, hehe...” He said with a tinge of adorable red tainted on his flawless skin, rosy cheeks that you could only ever wish in your dream to have. You gulped as he looked back at you, staring straight into your unsettled eyes, making your body tense without knowing the actual reason as to why. “...But that’s only because I really like you that I’m willing to accept any of your bad characteristics. What do you think will I think if I were a normal person? If I were Vil-san?”

Your mouth closed and open multiple times, trying to find the words you want to say. Somehow, you began to piece together what he wanted to say and yet, you couldn’t actually stop him from saying it out loud. You knew it yourself; you didn’t need someone to pressure you into admitting something you already knew. Was Epel this much of a shrewd person before? Regardless, his pink polished lips twisted into a chilling smile.

“I’d think you’re disgusting.”

“You think you’re so smooth, following him around and eavesdropping every time he opens his mouth to talk just to hear his voice. You’re probably the type to steal some stuff from him too, it’s creepy!” Epel said, walking over to you as you kept your head held down, ashamed to be called out like this. “That makes you no different from a crazed fan, a stalker. Vil-san already gets plenty of those, he doesn’t need another one.”

You gasped as Epel grasped your chin, his eyes remaining as dark and cruel as you remembered them before, only that this time, he was no longer smiling. “…That’s why it’s disgusting. That’s not the kind of beauty Vil-san is looking for.” He said as you tried backing away, only for him to keep on stepping forward to stay close to you. “He’ll never acknowledge someone like you.”

You yelped as Epel suddenly pushed your shoulders down, tackling you down to the ground. Grunting, you landed in a not-so gentle manner with his beautiful face hovering above you. “...But I do.” He added, a small smile reappeared in his face, it was more like a pity smile if anything else.

You were getting scared, there was fear in your eyes alone as you try to search for your way out of this situation. Epel has a small structure despite being growing man himself, the different in size between the two of you are barely even noticeable! But with that cold, intimidating gaze, it feels as if you were forced to shrunk down beneath him. “E-Epel—“ Your voice calling out his name only became an encouragement for him to move his hands freely around your body. Even when you widened your eyes as he suddenly lifted up your shirt to expose your chest.

“W-Wait— no!” You can protest all you want, but even struggling against him as a fit resilience did nothing to reach conscience. Your breath was shaking as he merely swayed your flinging arms away, already weakened by your own will, and worked his way into freeing your mounds to be groped. His hand reached the underneath the skirt that you were wearing for his party and wasted no time in reaching for your underwear. Quavering lips turned into gasps of panic as he makes its way down to your erogenous zones, his nimble fingers able to send pleasures down your body. It didn’t take too long before the realization came to you, just how serious this is, that tears began to well up in your eyes.

He took no mind to it though, you plead and beg but you were met with cold, uncaring eyes as you felt a finger sliding in pass your folds. The way you squeaked like a mouse as he bit on your breast too, it was all too insignificant to really reach his ears at all…Looking deeper in the depths of those seemingly gentle eyes, it slowly occurred to you the emotions that he was hiding underneath there. Something that you’ve never noticed until now, or something that you never really bothered to look into, even if it was just for a split second.

All this time, Epel...was angry.

“S-Stop!” As if yelling out in a demanding voice can stop him, it only made him growl in irritation as he thrusted yet another finger inside you. Your willpower was incredibly weak, your stomach was already forming a knot ready to burst out any moment just by his fingers alone. With a scissor-like motion, it’s almost like he knew where to hit you, which places would feel good and would irk you even more, he even dug deeper down your entrance to explore undiscovered places.

An orgasm was inevitable, he was surprisingly skilled with his hands and your body wasn’t able to take all of that pleasure all at once and bursts right then and there. The toll on your body it took had you writhing on the ground, sobbing at the light-headed feeling spreading inside your brain. Epel seemed satisfied though, pulling out his fingers completely to marvel at how soaked you’ve made his fingers to be. “…You’re amazing.” He said, smiling down at you as he began to shuffle in between your legs, not even letting you rest for even a minute. “This is why I like you so much.”

“Please, stop...! W-Why…Why are you doing this…!?”

He leans in, wiping the tears off your cheek as he shook his head stubbornly. “Do you still…not understand?” He said, that chilling smile on his face was making it all the more terrifying for you as he comes and undo his pants. It’s not about whether or not you understood his motive here because you already had way too much time to do that, you were just in a state of disbelief that you’re just…doing anything you can to call off this reality your experiencing at this moment. “I said it over and over again, didn’t I?”

“I like you.”

Epel then chuckled, before shaking his head as if to correct himself from his own wording. “…No, maybe that’s why you couldn't understand.” He said, his smile becoming wider and wider. “Because it’s love.”

“I love you, (Y/N).”

#yandere twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #epel felmier #yandere epel felmier #yandere #Birthday Crumbs (Epel)

[star-wars-scribbles-ff]

Click for better quality 👀 (ref photo)

IN SERVICE OF THE REPUBLIC

Art depiction from Where I Belong of my OC CT-1917/Lucky

Sneak peak scene snippet from chapter 13 of Where I Belong below!!

The sound of the nearest set of blast doors opening does little to pull a reaction from Arwen as she feels a presence emerge from the interior of the base and out onto the walkway where she was. She didn’t need much time at all to guess who it was. After that speeder-wreck of a conversation, General Kenobi was the only one who’d likely try to speak with her.

Despite having had almost half an hour to think about the conversation she’d just had with the Jedi Council members, Arwen could feel the anger bubbling back up to the surface. She was angry with them, but even more so with herself for thinking such an arrangement could actually be authentic.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” General Kenobi announced himself, despite knowing she was aware of his presence already. 

Arwen let her eyes shoot to the left as the Jedi came to stand a few feet away from her before he turned to face the view of the Cruiser Staging Area. His aura was relaxed but his tone and posture gave away the most subtle hesitation he was bringing with him. He definitely wanted to say something; he wasn’t just coming for small talk. It’d be awkward if he did.

“I feel that our conversation took something of a wrong turn.”

“Wayii (good grief)- Just spit it out, General.” Corcer turned abruptly, pushing off of the railing her forearms had been rested upon to face the Jedi. His expression was calm, only a slight furrow of his brow indicated his reaction and potential concern or perhaps consideration to her anger bubbling over. “You used me to get what you needed for your investigation. That blasted contract was just a load of fodder-”

“The Council is still deliberating on your greater role, Corcer.” The General responded. “The contract is genuine, I assure you.” He sounded just as genuine however that did little to convince Arwen as she shook her head and looked out over the railing once more, hands grasping the railing tightly. 

“You must understand that the Council simply needs time to evaluate and consider the situation.” 

“All due respect, what else is there to consider?” She shot daggers over her shoulder before throwing the look ahead of her. “My service record? Jobs I’ve taken as a merc just to get by and survive in the mere months since my team was-” The abruptness of Arwen cutting off her own words had to have caught the Jedi’s attention as he physically shifted where he stood.

“Your team,” He stated the phrase with a casual quietness that made Corcer tense.

“Wer'cuy… Jetiise ke nu suvarir (forget it/it doesn’t matter… Jedi don’t understand).” She muttered under her breath with a shake of her head. 

“I beg your pardon?” The question seemed to be one of surprise more than anything.

“A Jedi wouldn’t understand!” Arwen finally barked, not bothering to look towards him. She only kept her gaze ahead, forearms coming to lean back on the railing as she looked down over ledge towards the lower deck where a small airfield was.

After everything; all that had happened. She didn’t know if she had the right to feel insulted or even upset about the position she was in. Granted she did everything in her power on that mission- gave everything she had and intended to give her life if not for the fact that she was somehow still here despite the odds. She gave everything. Herself. Her team- the only family she’d ever known - for the Republic… Was that not enough?

Arwen wished the sound of the ion engines of one of the Republic’s Venator-class cruisers powering up was loud enough to drown out any further conversation that could take place. She felt oddly trapped with this Jedi, despite having plenty of space to move away from him as he stood idly by a few feet away. He was being more civil than she’d like. Mentally trying to stomp out the crumbs of guilt sitting heavy in her stomach at her behavior around this General - a superior - didn’t seem to be working. 

He’s done nothing but be genuine so far. She had no reason to be angry with him specifically. But then again he was a Jedi. Jedi didn’t deal with emotions like other people did. They were cold, calculated individuals; weighing life rarely by worth but by majority… unless you were weighing the worth of a Jedi against Clones of course. Then the worth of one outweighed that of the majority. Jedi were just like everyone else… viewing this army like nothing but canon fodder; easily disposable and replaceable. Her team was nothing but numbers on a spreadsheet to them. She could count the number of Jedi she trusted on one hand. That number was even smaller when considering how many she trusted that weren’t already dead.

The Jedi General was quiet in his movements as he came to stand by her side, posture straight as he rested his hands upon the railing and eyed the view before them. Moving his gaze subtly he eyed the mercenary, noting her eyes had fallen and her expression, for a brief moment, appeared more exhausted and broken than any he’d seen in some time. 

“The Republic owes you and your team a great debt.” He’d considered the proclamation before coming to find Corcer. It was true after all. He’d read the details on the file; what she, as well as her team, had been a part of; how their actions may have very well saved the Republic just months prior due to the information they’d obtained and kept out of Separatist hands. However, that victory came at a cost.

Arwen shook her head at his words. Whether it was out of denial of his words or something else, Kenobi wasn’t completely sure. He was reluctant to dig deeper into her aura, but wanted to at least attempt, if not to get a better understanding of her. 

“Nice payback.” Arwen muttered before crossing her arms over the railing, risking the action of resting her chin down on her forearms. Her back was still tense, and she was ready to act at any time, however this Jedi posed no threat to her. Not at the moment at least.

General Kenobi considered her response before he nodded to himself.

“I understand you feel betrayed, and I apologize for what took place and- has… since taken place.”

Arwen could tell by the split second hesitation at the end of his sentence that he was treading carefully, however she didn’t plan on holding him to his words. She wanted to just knock his statement up to him sweet talking to get her cooperation however she could feel his sincerity. It was clear as day in the air and she couldn’t deny or ignore it.

“I’m sorry about General- Kazar and- Padawan Vorruk… sir,” Her voice lost its confidence rather quickly as soon as she uttered the names. She hadn’t said the names of the Jedi General and Padawan she’d worked with on that last mission since… the mission itself. “I-...” She couldn’t bring herself to continue as her throat tightened and suffocated the words before she could utter them.

I did what I could.

She hadn’t said it out loud, but she knew she didn’t have to.

“I know,” The response didn’t surprise her as much as his tone did. His voice held emotion, despite his professional output. He projected a sense of understanding and mentorship. There was also certainty to his tone.

He must’ve watched the holorecording. 

Arwen closed her eyes, brow knitting tightly as she tried to push the images from her mind. She could almost feel the weight of the Jedi padawan in her arms sometimes; when she’d held his half conscious body, clinging to life, while she tried to relay coordinates and need for extraction to the nearest Republic fleet and simultaneously fend off incoming hostiles. 

And now the Jedi had the footage of her message. 

It angered her that it was memorialized as a recording, but it enraged her that they’d seen it and still saw her as a threat. Like nothing that happened that day held any weight. 

A slight shift in the Jedi’s aura caused her to look subtly out of the corner of her eye and she evaluated his posture as it straightened and he cleared his throat quietly.

“I am currently negotiating with the Council to have you ship out with General Skywalker and I.” 

Arwen’s brow scrunched together at the Jedi’s words and she pushed off of the railing to stand straight and face the Jedi.

“Sir- the Council said-”

“I am proceeding to try and convince them otherwise.” Kenobi responded, hands coming behind his back as his gaze arched over the view in front of them once more before it returned to her. “I read your file and reviewed your training as well as completed missions. Your skillset will be of the most use in the field. Now, it will take some time before we can have you operating openly if this pans out. But for the time being, I am going to do my best to get the Council’s permission to have you work in the background of any ongoing operations within my battle group.”

Alright… This Jedi isn’t half bad.

Corcer eyed him for a moment, overall uncertainty written in her expression before she swallowed and let out a quiet breath through her nose.

“Thank you, sir.” 

I feel like a di'kut now.

The General eyed her quietly for a time before glancing away towards the blast doors down the walkway. 

“0700 tomorrow there will be a meeting on standard operating procedures in the east wing for new clones joining the ranks of the 212th. You’re welcome to attend.”

The offer surprised her, however that surprise was quickly overshadowed by solace. Corcer’s hands swung around behind her back subconsciously, posture straight and attentive as she gave the Jedi General a nod.

“I’ll be there, sir.” Arwen’s tone voiced assurance and even confidence.

Giving her a curt nod and a hint of a professional smile, General Kenobi excused himself and turned to head back inside. 

Corcer watched him leave and once the blast doors closed behind the Jedi, she found herself mulling over the breath sitting in her chest before she slowly let it out and returned to her spot leaning on the railing.

The sense of reassurance was starting to leave a subtle bitter taste in her mouth. On the surface she felt relief, knowing this Jedi appeared to be coming at her from the right direction; easing her into situations where she’d be surrounded by the troops. However the deeper she sifted through her mind… she was terrified. 

How the kark am I gonna fit in with these troopers? I don’t know the first thing about Infantry SOPs.

Then there was the matter of how she would be received. The last thing she wanted was to be on the bad side of these troopers. Then again her very presence was already proving a negative to the 501st troopers as they’ve had to cart her around twice today. If things kept going down the same road, she’d have a difficult time fitting in.

Until she knew exactly what her job would be, if the General could square something away for her, she couldn’t get too comfortable with anything on the base, and especially not with any of the men. That was the only thing she’d need to be sure to do. Don’t let yourself care; don’t get attached. If it’s one thing her past had taught her; it only ends in heartbreak and it leaves you more alone than ever.

Not one of my best arts, but I’ve had it sitting on the shelf for a long time so I figured it was better to share it sooner rather than later. Check the story out if you’re curious for more! Feedback is always appreciated 💕

#my art #my writing #star wars fanart #clone wars fanart #star wars fanfiction #clone wars fanfiction #republic commandos #obi wan kenobi #grand army of the republic #clones #star wars ocs #clone wars ocs #clone ocs #clone commandos

[rosezure]

Todoroki Family - My Opinion

MANGA SPOILERS FOR BNHA/MHA ahead!

CW: parental neglect and abuse, anxiety, therapy, Touya Todoroki/Dabi, Enji Todoroki/Endeavor, spoilers, swearing (please remind me if I forgot anything).

Disclaimer: All of the information on the Todoroki family dynamics is based on my interpretation of what’s been (so far) revealed through the anime and manga. These are all just opinions, you are free to agree or disagree respectfully. I do not wish to invalidate anyone’s opinion. Family dynamics have always been a very sensitive and triggering subject to me, so I hope that you respect that if you wish to discuss this with me.I would like to give my own two cents on the Todoroki family situation. As someone that has dealt with abuse and neglect in a (slightly) similar way my whole life, this story hits very close to home. I will try to be as thorough and objective as possible. But, feel free to call me out (respectfully) if there is anything ambiguous or if problematic. Thank you.

I am going to focus on Touya/Dabi and Enji’s story. I do not know enough to talk about Rei’s role in all of this, so I will not mention her. But, I might update this as new chapters come out.

I will talk about Dabi’s early years by referring to him as Touya since that was his identity at the time. Any comments about him as an adult will be referring to him as Dabi.

I was a psychology student for about two years, and when we learned about child development, here is what I gathered:

When you are a child, all you want is to be loved, to be safe. This is essential to a child, as it is what develops them into a healthy and independent adult. And, this is especially important concerning parents or guardians. Effective parenting practices ensure that the child will have a better chance at developing according to their age and needs. This will grant the kids skills that they will use and perfect as they grow up. In other words, children that are well-taken care of have a higher chance of being strong, healthy, and emotionally developed adults.

When a parent or guardian is ignorant of how they can impact their child’s growth, it has many negative effects. In Touya’s case, Enji Todoroki was clueless. This does not mean Enji should not be held responsible just because he was ignorant. Enji knew he was not being the best parent, but he did not know how exactly. And, at the time he was blinded by his greed and ambition, so he would not have been paying attention to that. Even so, (personally) I do not think parents are afforded the luxury of ignoring their bad parenting if they are made aware of it. They are responsible for another human’s life and growth. They should be held accountable if the child develops issues and hurts themselves or even others.

With that being said, Enji Todoroki was a horrible but clueless parent. From what I have understood from the manga and the anime, at first, he had no idea why Shoto was so "rebellious" (in his opinion). He also seemed to not understand Natsuo and Fuyumi. So I am led to believe that he was, at the time, oblivious to how much he negatively impacted Touya. 

Touya just wanted his father’s affection. If that meant grueling training and preparing to become a hero to defeat All Might, then so be it. It was the attention and affection he knew. He was not led to believe otherwise. Touya's sole positive interactions came from him showing he could fulfill his father’s sick dream. In a child’s mind, that was the only way to secure parental love and approval: To train as hard as possible and become what his father so desperately wished for.

Then his hair started turning white. He started getting injured because of his quirk. His only source of positive attention, his only hope for affection, was killing him. And it had to be stopped. I am sure in Touya’s mind, this meant he would not be loved anymore. 

And then Enji stopped training him. Natsuo was born. Shoto was born. And Touya felt that his source of love was directed to that baby. The baby that Enji saw as a success. Enji made Touya feel like a failure, a broken toy. And he was being replaced by a newer, shinier one: His brother.

When he tries to attack Shoto, he is trying to take back his place. Touya was trying to gain back his father’s love and attention.

Enji wanted to prevent Touya from hurting himself more. But he failed to communicate that. Instead, his words made it seem like his plan was foiled. Touya wasn’t enough, so Enji’s chance of using him to end All Might vanished. Touya wasn’t what Enji needed anymore.

Touya’s world didn’t collapse all at once. It didn’t even crack all at once. From what I understood, it was a collection of hairline fractures that never healed. It was a dislocated shoulder that was never put back in its place and was left to hang. It was a pounding headache that only grew more and more painful over time. 

When Dabi was born, Touya had been buried in bruises, paper cuts, minor broken bones, chronic illnesses. Touya was killed by exhaustion and pain. He didn’t die at one point, he was dying all along. 

As someone who suffers from chronic issues, I know that the somatization of symptoms and other sources of pain can turn a simple illness into something much more serious. Think of it as a butterfly effect, but all inside one person: Every single negative experience, from both outer and inner sources, all summed and turned into one massive festering wound. 

Touya’s mind was a living open wound, it seems.

So Dabi was born. To seal the wound shut. Clean it? No. Protect it? Maybe.

But this particular type of wound (the psychological, emotional one) if left untreated can become infected. And infected wounds are harder and more painful to clean and treat. 

Dabi’s mind is a bandaid over an infected wound. It seems objectively okay, maybe even sane. But he’s clearly in pain. He’s not in his right mind. His decisions all stem from the pure rage and anger of a child that was abandoned. 

What chapter 300 brought was the perspective of a child that just wanted to be loved. That's all he wanted. And the only love he knew was when Enji Todoroki trained with him, no matter how gruesome and painful it must've been.

I'm gonna briefly and superficially compare his situation to mine. Of course, I didn’t suffer half of the pain he did, and I won't go into any detail as to not trigger myself. But, I only got attention when I was either extremely sick or I was needed as a trophy child of some sort. Even then, if I was ill, the attention I got was so I could get well soon and go back to being "useful". I was an extension of them, at best. But I still craved their attention. I still do in a way to this very day. It's not something that just goes away once you realize how toxic and abusive it is.

No matter how much pain I’m in, no matter how love-starved I am, I still want their approval. Inside me, there’s still a scared child, crying out for her parents to love her. That child is now my responsibility. I have to give her love, nurture her so she can grow with me.

Does that make sense?

I have no idea how Dabi is feeling. And I don’t think we’ll ever truly know. He is fictional, after all, and there’s no telling if Horikoshi will be delving into that.

But maybe Touya is still inside Dabi, crying, screaming to be loved. And Dabi is trying his best to tend to that child, but he never truly grew up to know how to take care of another being. Dabi doesn’t know how to take care of himself emotionally. 

I’m learning because I, thankfully, have access to therapy. But it hurts. It hurts to realize the ones that were meant to take care of you, didn’t. It hurts to look into yourself and see a shaking, teary-eyed child begging for crumbs of love.

Now, with the whole "redemption" thing being debated, here's my own personal opinion. You don't have to agree, and I'm not asking you to. Again, this is just how I view it. As a survivor, I'd be relieved to see my parents try. The damage is done, true. I'll never regain my childhood. I'll never have what people with different, better, parents have. The past can't be reversed. And I'm seeing it repeat itself with my little brother. But, if there's a minimal chance that my parents can own up to what they did, that they open themselves up to changing their behavior and learning, then maybe we can build something new.

Build. Not rebuild. The foundation of our past relationship was rotten from the beginning. A new one must be built. A new foundation must be developed if we ever hope to make something of our relationship.

If the Todorokis, really want to reconcile, reconnect, rebuild, then they must start from scratch. If Enji Todoroki wants that, he’s gonna have to start from zero, from nothing. And I'm not entirely sure if Endeavor is doing that, but he is trying, somehow. We don't know for sure if he even has the emotional skills to do so. We can't say for sure that he's got what it takes to man up, own up and learn. But, he seems to be trying.

And that's something I've accepted I'll never have.

So if there's at least a 1% chance that he is truly trying, that Enji wants to redeem himself, then let him. Let their family try and heal together if that's what they want.

I'm not sure about the Japanese culture when it comes to family. But where I come from, a family is an important base of our personal and social development, to the point that reconciliation more often than not is the best route.

Still, I know it's not for everyone. So I respect you if you believe he doesn't deserve a chance. I understand if you say Enji Todoroki should be kept far away from his family. You're right, and you're valid.

But, please, please, if the author decides that he redeems himself and does try his best to start a new relationship with his family, let him. Let them heal. Together. Let them try and make up for the lost time in the best way in the present. Let them rebuild.

I know I'd give anything to rebuild my family.

Let Touya be healed and put Dabi to rest. Touya needs to be loved, he needs to be taken care of like he never was as a child. Dabi needs to be told he tried. He needs to be told he did what he could. 

But Dabi is also an adult now. He’s got legal responsibilities. The pain and devastation he’s caused and helped cause can’t be overlooked. He needs help, but he also had to be held accountable. 

Touya/Dabi needs to face himself and start over. He needs to face the man he’s become and at the same time take care of the child he wasn’t able to be. 

If the Todoroki family is reconciled, I dearly hope he gets to be a part of this new book. Not a new chapter, they need to throw that whole book away and start a new one. And, if possible, I’d love to see someone like me get the ending I won’t be getting. 

I hope this made some sense at least. Again, if anything is unclear, ambiguous, or problematic, let me know and I’ll do my best to correct or remove the bad parts. If you’ve read this far, thank you. If you share a similar experience, I’m sorry, and I’m here for you. 

#bnha #mha #bnha 300 #bnha 301 #bnha spoilers #bnha discussion #touya todoroki #dabi #enji todoroki #shoto todoroki #todoroki family #fuyumi todoroki #natsuo todoroki #rei todoroki #touya #shoto #endeavor #endeavour

[hopelessromanticspoonie]

A New Year’s Truth

Characters: Loki x Empath Avenger Reader

Summary: Reader is stuck at Stark Tower with Loki after the December holidays are finished. But each glancing touch with Loki speaks a truth that he doesn’t seem willing to face. Will the New Year change that?

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: This is only loosely edited, as I’m still very very ill. I will go back and further edit it once I’m better, but I wanted to get this out to y’all before the New Year. I hope you enjoy!

The time between the various winter holidays and the New Year was always a weird one.

It was as if the world was stuck in a holding pattern, waiting with bated breath for a new year with new expectations to begin. When was the right time to take down all the festive decorations? How long was socially acceptable to do absolutely nothing on the couch but watch cheesy movies from your childhood and pig out on chocolate-covered treats? All the stress and excitement died down to leave everyone in a trance-like state, shuffling in pajamas from the couch to the kitchen to bed and back again. For some it was a relief, to finally have the stress and familial obligations lifted from their weary shoulders. For others, that had never been a concern, and one day just melted into the next.

It was the fourth day that you’d worked on permanently etching a likeness of your backside into the couch while you binged Bake Off and ate your weight in the last of the cookies you had made for Christmas. They were left behind, as were you, after your teammates had all split off to spend the last of the year with their respective families - even Steve and Bucky had gone with Nat and Sam to relax with Clint’s family.

You wiped a stray crumb from your shirt when Loki strolled in from the direction of the kitchen. He was the only other inhabitant in the tower, choosing to stay rather than to go to New Asgard with Thor and play diplomat for a people lukewarm to him at the best of times. You didn’t blame him. He cast a critical eye at your disheveled appearance before folding himself gracefully into the comfortable leather chair he preferred, pulling a book from his pocket dimension to read while he sipped at the steaming mug in his hand.

You could practically feel the judgment pouring off of him in waves without looking at him. Groaning at your ruined relaxation, you rolled your head around to stare at him, quirking a brow. “Out with it.”

He mirrored your expression, although with much more disdain and arrogance than you could ever muster. “I beg your pardon.”

“I don’t need to go over there and touch you to know that you’re judging me. Spill it,” you muttered, sitting up and stretching, arching your back into it with a sigh you felt all the way down to your toes. You tugged your hoodie back down from where it had exposed just a sliver of the skin of your stomach, and Loki’s eyes quickly flitted from it back up to your face. Interesting.

“If you must know,” he closed his book, leaving it to rest on his lap, “I am honestly astonished that one could descend so far into a vegetative state without going comatose. I do not believe you have moved from that spot but to sleep or gather food in days.”

You stood, brushing cookie crumbs from your sweatpants absentmindedly. “And?”

“It is almost impressive, were it not such a waste. There is much to be done, and yet you are perfectly content to waste away watching others live their lives.”

As if he was one to talk, sitting there drinking his tea without a care in the world. “And what is there to be done exactly?”

“To begin, the decorations from Christmas and Hanukkah remain on display, and the kitchen is almost out of provisions,” he rattled off with a shrug.

Well, that second one certainly would need tending to. Normally the groceries were delivered twice a week from a food order that everyone contributed to, but you had forgotten about it when it hadn’t been brought to your attention. Perhaps a bit of fresh air would do you some good. You left the room without another word, quickly dressing and making yourself presentable to the public before coming back out into the living room with Loki’s wool pea coat draped over your arms.

“C’mon, Muscles. You can help me carry the groceries.” You held up his coat for him in invitation, shaking it lightly.

He rose, smoothing his hands down his white button-up shirt to come to a stop on his hips. There weren’t any wrinkles to be found on his outfit, but you would touch that body at any opportunity if given the chance, so who could blame him? “You expect me to accompany you to the market?”

You popped up a hip and mocked his rich, velvet accent that admittedly sent shivers of pleasure down your spine. “You expect to eat, don’t you?”

~

The once pristine glittering snow had morphed into a grey sludge that sucked at your feet with each step back from the store. Your hands were thrust out from your sides to maintain your tenuous balance as you trudged along behind Loki, who had taken the reusable bags full of food from you without protest excluding a well-executed roll of his dark eyes. His towering figure cut a path through the crowded New York City pedestrians who watched him with unabashed curiosity and trepidation as he passed. You were afforded mostly confusion as you inelegantly followed in his footsteps.

Until your foot slipped on a hidden patch of ice beneath the slurry, and a squeak of shock came from your throat as your hands flailed out wildly for something to grab onto. Concern rushed through you, strong and overwhelming, as Loki’s hands grasped yours to keep you from falling. When you looked up to him in grateful shock, and your eyes locked, tendrils of desire snaked out from his heart to wrap around yours and squeeze with the barest of heat. There wasn’t any mistaking the feelings he had at that moment, no matter how fleeting, and you both knew it.

“Thanks,” you murmured, awestruck in the face of such intense emotions that Loki worked to keep hidden.

He jerked back from you as if you had burned him, picking up the bags he had forgotten in his haste to help you. “Do not mention it. Come. I’m famished and you obviously are not suited for this weather.”

~

“Is this absolutely necessary?”

You looked up from where you kneaded the flour-covered dough against the countertop, jaw set in determination as you leaned into your work. “It tastes better when you make it from scratch. I figured someone with your impressive knife skills wouldn’t find it challenging to chop a bit of garlic and tomatoes for a simple pasta sauce. If I’m mistaken…”

Loki bristled, his eyes tightening as he made quick work of unbuttoning his sleeves before rolling them up the pale expanse of his arms. “I am quite capable of performing such a menial task.”

You dropped your gaze to the exposed skin, delighting silently in the flex of his forearms as he set to work doing as you had asked. It was quiet, calming, to work together in the kitchen. The rhythmic sound of his knife hitting the wooden cutting board timed with your rolling and kneading the pasta dough was almost musical, working with the pulse pounding in your ears at such a domestic scene to keep you very alert.

Not too alert, apparently, as when you began to cut the long floured noodles from your rolled sheet of dough, you managed to slice the pad of your index finger.

“Shit!” you cursed, dropping the knife and pulling the bleeding digit into your mouth. You quickly checked to make sure you hadn’t ruined the dough, eyes darting around the room for something to staunch the bleeding.

“Let me see,” Loki commanded quietly from behind you.

You turned to him to see his hands held out for yours, exasperation written into the firm set of his mouth. “You don’t have to touch me. It’s okay.”

“Let me see,” he repeated, gently encircling your wrist with his long, elegant fingers, pulling your finger from in between your lips.

There was that concern again, warm and soft as it wrapped around you like a blanket from where his hands deftly worked at cleaning and wrapping your hand in a band-aid. You weren’t used to people touching you, not of their own accord, not once they knew that you could feel their every emotion through the connection. It was an invasion of privacy, and more than that, it was opening them up to the possibility of you pushing certain feelings onto them - an aspect of your powers that you never used unless in dire situations on missions.

You would never do that to Loki, even with the desire that unfurled deep within your belly as you watched his calculated emerald eyes admire his handiwork. Anything that he felt, you wanted it to be authentic and coming only from him. Which was why the affection that teased just at the edges of your awareness made your breath catch in your throat, and your gaze drop to his lips as he wetted them with a flick of his tongue.

“Loki, I-”

“Perhaps I should finish the rest of the meal, so you do not risk ruining the pasta with your blood,” he commented dryly, leaving you empty as he released you from his hold.

You cradled your hand to your chest as if you could still feel the affection he had unwittingly shared on the stinging skin. “Of course. Just do what I was doing, without the stabbing part.”

~

You should’ve worn gloves for the party. Or perhaps a dress with sleeves.

The combination of so many bodies jostling around you, leaving you with just flashes of humor, lust, frustration, anger, sadness, and so many more emotions that you couldn’t name but could taste on your tongue, was too much. Tony had gone all out with the guest list for the New Year’s Eve party, and you felt positively ill at so many sensations washing over you in time with the pounding music and conflicting colognes and perfumes invading your nose.

The frigid wind on the balcony was a welcome breather, whipping around you and electrifying your senses to remove the lasting negative effects of the others from your person. Until you were just you again, as conflicted and frustrated as ever as you thought about Loki and Thor chatting amiably with amiably inside. The countdown was due to begin soon, and you didn’t want to see who the dark god paired off with to welcome in the new year with a kiss. That was one mental image you were perfectly content not to have engraved in your brain for the foreseeable future.

“The party not to your liking?”

Your chin lifted from where it had settled on your chest to watch the crowds below, all packed together and shouting their revelry into the abyss that climbed up the tower windows to reach your cold-reddened ears. “I didn’t realize it would be that crowded, and I’m not wearing sleeves.”

A coat, woolen and heavy and scented with cedarwood and spice settled over your shoulders to block the worst of the cutting wind. Your arms unraveled from around your waist to grip onto the lapels, holding Loki’s coat tighter to you. Loki stepped into your line of sight, regarding you with an unreadable expression as he leaned against the safety rail as if he wasn’t several hundred feet in the air. “That was poor planning on your part.”

“Yeah, but I look good in this dress,” you replied with a humorless laugh, swinging your hips back and forth as it to prove the point.

“You do,” was his warm reply, matching the slight upturn of the corner of his mouth as his eyes trailed down the length of your body slowly.

What you wouldn’t give to know the feelings behind that look, but you wouldn’t ever invade his privacy in that way. Not without permission. Thankfully, the cold air already turned the tip of your nose red and flushed your cheeks, otherwise the effect his searching gaze and thoughtful gesture would be much more clear. “Thanks for the coat. You always seem to be stepping up to help me, lately.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he replied in that crushed velvet voice that had just a hint of roughness to it as he took one step closer to you.

The crowd down below began counting down. You could barely hear the numbers over the roar of the wind in your ears and the pounding of your heart as Loki shielded your body from the cold with his own. His hands came up to settle over your upper arms, rubbing the soft satin lining of his coat into your skin.

And your eyes fluttered closed just before his lips brushed against yours at the last second. Love unlike anything you’d ever felt before matched the caress of his smooth lips over yours, catching in your heart and coaxing out a warm glow of happiness that you weren’t sure began or ended with the man cradling you in his arms. It was untainted by darkness, driven from the purest sense of adoration and affection that you had experienced from another soul.

His forehead rested against yours once he allowed you a moment to breathe, quite kind of him after having stolen the very breath from your lungs. Hope, sharp and bright, teased out from him and into you to make your fingers curl into his black suit jacket. “I am not one to easily speak my emotions freely with others. But you must know…”

You nudged your nose along his, your heart soaring at the physical contact and the shared joy that danced between you to the tune of your drumming heartbeats. “I do. You can’t exactly hide that from me.”

He gathered you into the warmth of his embrace, tucking your forehead beneath his chin with a relieved sigh. It was safety and contentment and promise and a love so new and bright that you hoped to never find its shadow. “No more hiding. Not in this new year.”

~~~

Little Bit o’ Loki taglist: @myownviperroom @grahoundart @darealbellabelleoftheball @boubouinscarlet @iamverity @rt8815 @lots-of-loki @otakumultimuseoc @ms-cellanies @rosierossette

Whole Shebang taglist: @yespolkadotkitty @nonsensicalobsessions @just-the-hiddles @vodka-and-some-sass @he-is-chaotic-she-is-psychotic @myoxisbroken @blah666 @brokenthelovely @myworddump @polireader @wiczer @littleredstarfish @the-broken-angel-13 @arch-venus25 @xxloki81xx @jessiejunebug @tinchentitri @sllooney @devilbat @vikkleinpaul @bouquet-o-undercaffeinated-roses @angelus80 @wolfsmom1 @kthemarsian @toozmanykids @claritastantrum @princerowanwhitethorngalathynius @sabine-leo @lovesmesomehiddles​ @peterman-spideyparker​ @wegingerangelica​ @bluefrenchfries604​ @catsladen @silverswordthekilljoy​

#loki #loki fluff #loki fanfic #loki x reader #loki/reader #avenger reader #empath reader #new years eve fic #marvel fanfic

[satonthelotuspier]

I'm seeing prompts on your site and does that mean you are accepting them right now? I've never requested a prompt before and I don't know what to do? But if I'm doing it right I'd really like to see 13 for XueXiao from the bodyguard au prompt list? Fluffy or angsty, as you please. Am I doing this right?

OK so Im being obvious, but this contains XueXiao.

Modern Bodyguard AU so none of the complications of canon apply.

Now the disclaimers are out of the way, I have to apologise to the very patient @amaskinamirror bc this took so much longer to write than I expected. The reason being most of my prompt fics end up around the 1k-1.4k word mark and this kept going and kept going because there was a story there. It came in around the 4.5k work mark. Think of it as added value, unless you hate it in which case it’s not ;)

Pompts from this post here

Part 2 now available here

Xue Yang is the enfant terrible of the music world and his manager has pretty much had enough of his shitty behaviour. Features a thorny Xue Yang shaped by the worlds opinions of him, and a hardass yet caring Xiao Xingchen who maybe might just start to see beyond the lies.

Possible triggers/warnings: Also features swearing, man-handling, use of a date rape drug, minor injury and blood. Luckily XXC is there to save the day in all situations.

Xue Yang was woken up from a deep, no doubt alcohol-induced, sleep to the feeling of cold water being splashed in his face.

He shot upright coughing and spluttering and wiping water out of his eyes, trying to process what the hell had happened. The unconscious bodies around him all started to stir and groan back to lucidity.

Xue Yang followed the long line of the leg in front of him up to eventually meet a pair of dark eyes staring down at him without expression.

“What the fuck?” he demanded and tried to get up but someone he didn’t even remember the name of was laid across his legs.

It had been another party. One where they’d drunk hard and passed out before dawn some time; he didn’t know half the people here. That had never stopped him. Being the enfant terrible of the music industry took both time, effort and commitment.

The tall man bent down to extricate him, then yanked him to his feet.

“You have rehearsals in ninety minutes. Get showered, you smell like a brewery” a garment bag was pushed into his hands then he was waved in the direction of the hotel suite’s bathroom.

“Excuse me, but just who the fuck are you?” honestly his head felt a little woolly still from the after-effect of the alcohol he’d been drinking, but he was sure he didn’t know who this man was or what he was doing in his hotel suite.

“Your Fairy Godmother, Cinderella, now go get a shower, you’re wasting time”

Xue Yang grabbed hold of the collar of his jacket, “Don’t bullshit me”

The hand that clamped around his wrist was steel-like, “Your new security. Your manager sends his regards. I won’t tell you to go and shower again”

“Firstly, if you are security you are not my boss, so you can stop with the ordering me around like I’m your little bitch, secondly, you are my security? I’m sure if a duckling gets too close you’ll do a great job, otherwise…” he was going to push the other away, sure because of his willowy frame it would be easy. Quite how he ended up in an armlock and being dragged to the bathroom he didn’t know. He bit his tongue to stifle the cry of pain; no way would he utter the noise aloud. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” he snarled as the other kept going into the bathroom.

“I’ve already explained. I’m not going to repeat myself” the man opened the shower door, pushed Xue Yang into the cubicle and pushed the on button.

Of course Xue Yang never learned his lesson; he launched himself at the other only to bounce off the cubicle door as the other shut it behind him, holding it closed.

“New world order, xiao-Xue, get used to being my little bitch” the other grinned as Xue Yang punched the glass then yelled at the pain in his hand, “Clean up, I don’t want to be forced to come in there and clean you up myself”

***

Xue Yang curled himself up as small as possible on the back seat of the car; he was in high sulk. After calling his manager to demand an explanation of what was going on Jin Guangyao had told him in no uncertain terms he’d better get used to the idea of Xiao Xingchen being around. His new security was not only there to provide for his personal safety after a spate of disturbing mail (more disturbing than the usual run of the mill threats at least), but to whip him into some kind of shape as Jin Guangyao was convinced his terrible behaviour, bad reputation and general personality was about to lose them some very large contracts.

Everyone loved a bad boy in theory, but when it began to affect his ability to make his management company money then they were definitely going to act to protect their asset.

And that had come in the form of Xiao Xingchen, who looked as gentle and fragile as an orchid but who had already handed Xue Yang his ass once today already.

“A-Qing, I need breakfast” Xue Yang whined at his assistant as his stomach rumbled for the fourth time.

“You shouldn’t have upset the new bodyguard then” she mocked him quietly, and he retreated even more, pulling the hood of his jacket up and wrapping his arms around his knees as A-Qing took pity on him and leaned forward to ask the driver to stop at a nearby coffee shop.

They did, and A-Qing and the driver returned with coffees for all and a bag full of muffins.

Lao-Xia, the driver, and A-Qing had been with Xue Yang long enough to not meet his gaze as they started on their own food; Xiao Xingchen had no such warning; he was too busy goggling at Xue Yang who had made his own muffin disappear like a magician with a rabbit.

“Are you going to eat that?” Xue Yang asked, pointing at the baked bun in Xiao Xingchen’s hand.

He simply offered it over; perhaps surprised at the demonstration of the speed at which a muffin could be demolished without trace.

The second one followed the first in quick order and Xue Yang froze as the other reached  over to brush the crumbs that had stuck to the corner of his mouth away with a thumb.

“You don’t want the Paparazzi to catch that” he said simply before turning in his seat to look out of the windscreen and sip at his coffee.

Xue Yang curled back in on himself and held his ridiculously sweet iced coffee to his chest.

“You eat too much sugar” Xiao Xingchen told him as Lao-Xia started the car and set off driving to the studio, “You need something to give you energy for the first meal of the day”

“Good luck with that, he functions on pure sugar and supplements” A-Qing mocked and Xue Yang shot her an annoyed look.

***

Xue Yang didn’t know why he was surprised the next morning when he was awoken by a solid shake to the shoulder.

He hadn’t been able to avoid the other to sneak off to party last night so he wasn’t hung over but that didn’t mean he was any more amenable to the idea of waking up.

“Come on Sleeping Beauty, you have to be at your first interview in an hour”

Interviews. His mortal enemy. The thing he hated most in the world. And he was still no better at dealing with them than he had been as a fresh face on the music scene, where the press had crucified him, thrown every painful fact of his past in his face and then painted him as a troubled bad boy with a temper; a role he’d eventually just given up fighting against and embraced.

He threw the blankets over his head; maybe if he just went back to sleep the interview would disappear.

The blankets were thrown back.

“Dude, what the fuck?” he demanded, was he allowed no privacy at all anymore?

“Get up” Xiao Xingchen jerked his head towards the bathroom.

“Fuck off. I’m not going” he reached out to push the other away.

It went about as well as yesterday had for him; he ended up face down on the bed with his arm locked up between his shoulder blades.

“Are you going to learn any time soon? I mean, kudos for persistence but lose points for stupidity. Now, last chance to get up on your own, otherwise I’ll throw you over my shoulder and you can go dressed like that”

Xue Yang wasn’t sure he believed the other was strong enough to actually carry him out of the hotel room, but he daren’t take the chance he might be dragged out kicking and screaming and dressed in his ratty old t-shirt and shorts.

“Fine, yes, I’m getting up. Let me go, please” as a street child he’d learned to beg prettily and it wasn’t a skill he was averse to using if he needed to, to survive. It didn’t need to be sincere, it just needed to sound it, to be calculated to pull on the other’s heart strings.

It didn’t seem to affect Xiao Xingchen, but he was released nonetheless.

***

Xue Yang of course arrived on time for his first interview, (there were three in total scheduled for today), as far as they went it wasn’t particularly gruelling for him, but he was fully aware he was a mess by the end of it; he’d probably come across like he was on drugs, but it wasn’t like that would be the first, second or third time the rumour would circulate in relation to him.

He knew Xiao Xingchen eyed him in consideration, but he ignored it; he didn’t have the presence of mind to survive the next two interviews and worry about what his new security agent was judging him for today.

He was much worse by the end of the second; he had been left alone a sitting room of the hotel the interview’s had been arranged at and he lowered his head into his hands, trying to even out his breathing and calm himself. His professionalism would be questioned even further if he failed to complete the last interview, or screwed up during it.

He felt the couch dip next to him, “Here” he looked up, poison on his tongue ready to be spit at Xiao Xingchen when he realised the other held out one of those large chocolate chip cookies in a napkin. There was also iced coffee sat on the table in front of him.

“Just relax, empty your head, and focus on the cookie” Xiao Xingchen informed him; raising an eyebrow as Xue Yang didn’t immediately accept the confectionery from him.

He took it with tentative thanks; and it vanished almost immediately once he’d decided to accept the gesture. Once he’d gotten the sugary coffee inside him too he felt much better.

***

Despite his trash reputation he wasn’t late for a single appointment over the next weeks; Jin Guangyao assured him it was perfectly alright to project the rebel for the masses but when you played the brat with the people in the business you’d soon be blacklisted; a risk he wasn’t willing to take with Xue Yang.

Xue Yang hadn’t managed to get near alcohol or a party in that time due to Xiao Xingchen’s hawk eyes and iron control.

Since the second morning though instead of being woken up with a bucket of water to the face or bickering the other had started showing up with a sweet pastry and a staggeringly sugary iced coffee which he traded off for Xue Yang eating better at other mealtimes.

Overall it didn’t seem Xue Yang had a moment of time where the other wasn’t somewhere close, controlling everything, keeping a watchful eye out.

And it bothered Xue Yang; he didn’t get used to the feeling of Xiao Xingchen being there like he’d been assured he would. He was still hyper aware of him, and he didn’t necessarily think it was because he was intimidated, despite the fact they’d had a few more altercations, none of which ended well for Xue Yang.

***

He tried to ditch his new security for his monthly visit to the orphanage his charity had built and ran; the less people who knew about it the better. Of course he couldn’t shake the other off so he had to attend followed by Xiao Xingchen, and explain to the children who the tall ge was. He was a great hit with them, and although Xue Yang pretended to be annoyed at Xiao Xingchen getting all the attention that the youngsters usually showered on him secretly he was entertained as he watched the other romp with the rough kids, or play softly with the quieter ones.

“This is the first time you’ve brought a bodyguard” he turned slightly at the sound of Tian Ying, the matron of the orphanage and the woman who’d helped bring him up in a similar institution when he had been a boy had come up beside him. “Are you in danger, xiao-Xue?”

“Of course not” he didn’t consider the crazy mail Jin Guangyao was filtering from him any more of a threat than any of the other mail he’d received in the last few years, and he definitely didn’t want her to worry about him, “They just decided I needed someone to carry my bags for me”

He didn’t have time to say much more as he was dragged into an impromptu game of football in the yard, where he and Xiao Xingchen were on opposite teams.

They played around half-heartedly until a Xiao Xingchen who was grace incarnate except apparently on a football pitch, stuck his foot out and took Xue Yang’s feet from under him and he tumbled. The fall itself wasn’t bad but he was a little grazed as they played on the yard and not grass.

Xiao Xingchen was unusually all apologies and personally saw to tending the grazes Xue Yang’s tumble had caused, despite his assurances he was absolutely fine. The touch of the other still made his pulse flutter in some odd emotion and the way Xiao Xingchen kept glancing up at him, like he’d discovered a rare and new species, was disconcerting. And pissed him off, because he could guess what it was about.

“Just don’t” he said through his teeth so no one around them could hear.

“Don’t what? Congratulate you on what you’ve built here? On what you’re doing for these kids?”

“Yes, don’t. I don’t want to hear it” he sucked a breath in at the sting of the antiseptic where Xiao Xingchen applied it to his grazes.

“Alright, whatever you want” Xiao Xingchen let it drop but he still looked at Xue Yang with something approaching admiration in his eyes.

And it was addictive, to have someone look at him like that, and not like he was trash. But then it had never bothered him before. Was it purely because it was Xiao Xingchen and he wanted to be more than trash in that man’s eyes?

“I guess you read too many gossip rags” Xue Yang sniped, “I’m not on drugs, in any weird cults, or a complete slut either”

Instead of bullshitting him and denying he’d thought anything of the kind Xiao Xingchen agreed instead, “I’m beginning to see that. Of course that doesn’t mean you don’t have a vile temper, that you don’t ever learn your lessons, or that you don’t sulk like a baby when I tell you no”

He was about to make one of his usual responses when the game of football moved closer and he clamped his lips closed on the curse.

There was a knowing, teasing look in the other’s eyes and as Xue Yang looked down into that finely-boned face he realised why the other’s good opinion had meant so much to him; why he was on tenterhooks whenever Xiao Xingchen was near, which was all the time at the moment, and why his pulse fluttered like his veins were full of butterflies whenever the other touched him. He was in love with Xiao Xingchen.

Well fuck.

***

Xue Yang paced around his hotel bedroom, feeling like a caged tiger. He wanted to destroy something. No, he really wanted a stiff drink.

Was he a masochist? What had made him fall in love with a man who knocked him around for fun? No of course that was unfair, Xiao Xingchen only ever restrained him and only when Xue Yang attacked first. Still, it must definitely be masochism.

Or Stockholm Syndrome; he had been at the mercy of the other, a virtual prisoner, for weeks now.

“I need a drink” he exclaimed aloud; and so he formulated a plan.

He took a quick shower and changed into something black and sexy and flashy, then he he called reception and asked for a taxi cab, and that they ring up to let him know when it had arrived.

He waited by his bedroom door, peeping through the tiniest opening for the phone to ring back; and as Xiao Xingchen got up from the couch to answer it he dashed out and past as silently as possible to give himself as much of a head-start as he could manage.

The doors of the elevator were closing just as he saw Xiao Xingchen enter the hallway and yell at him in rage.

He was in the taxi and away; his freedom all the sweeter for being carefully wrought.

***

Xue Yang was beginning to feel pleasantly buzzed and he was chatting quite happily with the guy who stood next to him at the bar of the VIP lounge. He’d been greeted by the usual crowd who hadn’t seen him around for the weeks he’d been kept prisoner, (OK maybe that was a little dramatic), but he’d never seen this guy before and new people were interesting.

Although he was beginning to get uncomfortable at how the other stared at him intently after he’d finished his drink.

He excused himself to “visit the bathroom” when life finally caught up with him. Life of course being Xiao Xingchen.

He pushed Xue Yang up against the wall of the corridor to the bathrooms, which was surprisingly currently empty.

“Hey” Xue Yang protested, although with alcohol relaxing his muscles it hadn’t really hurt as he hadn’t tensed for impact. Actually being pinned against the wall by the man you’d fallen in love with was quite nice. He had zero experience, bar some awkward kisses with a girl who’d known as little as him when he was younger, but apparently being manhandled was beginning to be something he enjoyed. Maybe because it was Xiao Xingchen though.

“I’d advise you to keep really quiet, I’m this close to spanking the living hell out of you” and really he’d never seen Xiao Xingchen’s deceptively delicate face so twisted in anger.

But of course alcohol impaired one’s judgement; to dangerous levels sometimes.

“Is that what you like?” he asked.

“What?” Xiao Xingchen was confused, his hand tightened on Xue Yang’s collar as if he suspected the other was planning something.

“Spanking, do you get off on it?”

“You really have no fucking self-preservation instincts do you?” Xiao Xingchen demanded and if Xue Yang hadn’t been so muddled due to the reaction of his body to the other, and the alcohol humming through his bloodstream he might have realised how much trouble he was in; he had never heard the other curse before in all their weeks together.

Instead he gave in to the urge pounding at the base of his brain, unable to control it anymore. He threw his arms around Xiao Xingchen’s neck and kissed him.

Well, it was clumsy and unskilled, but it probably still counted as a kiss.

He was pushed back against the wall unceremoniously, “What do you think you’re doing? You are my client. You are drunk. You are so out of line right now”

Of course he hadn’t really expected a different response. He somehow managed to pull himself free and stumbled back out into the VIP lounge.

Actually he seemed to be more drunk than he’d realised. He was suddenly barely able to control his body and he felt like his head was full of cotton wool. A hand touched his back, “Oh, you look terrible. Do you need to lie down? Should we get you out of here?” he was vaguely aware the voice wasn’t Xiao Xingchen’s, it belonged to the guy he’d been talking to at the bar, as he was guided towards the door but he really did need to lie down right now. He was about to nod his agreement when the supporting hand was violently removed.

“What the fuck did you give him?” that was Xiao Xingchen, although he couldn’t work out what the question meant. He felt the iron-grip of his security’s hand and he was pulled close to the other; he recognised the familiar scent of his aftershave and it set his mind at rest.

***

It had been days since the nightclub incident; and he’d managed to act completely clueless about the entire evening. In honesty there were huge swathes of Xue Yang’s memory that were completely blank, but he was cursed with vague recollection of him kissing Xiao Xingchen.

He wanted to die from embarrassment. He wanted to mope around at the rejection. He had to pretend like he was completely clueless about everything that happened though and let the other just write it off as a side effect of the Flunitrazepam the random guy at the nightclub had put in his drink.

He had been in touch with Jin Guangyao and begged the other to find him new security. He couldn’t carry on being around Xiao Xingchen all the time, feeling like he did, and scared to death he’d do something stupid to reveal his feelings in a way that couldn’t be pretended away like that stupid kiss.

He had faithfully promised he’d keep up the good behaviour Xiao Xingchen had bullied into him so long as Jin Guangyao replaced him with someone who wouldn’t cause Xue Yang such pain to have close.

His manager had promised to at least look into it.

Xue Yang didn’t realise he’d been wool-gathering in his head and managed to separate slightly from Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing until he saw a face in the crowd that made him uncomfortable.

He didn’t recognise the man but the fear that skittered down his spine was very real; he turned to try and get closer to Xiao Xingchen who called his name and dashed over; the flash he caught from the corner of his eye had him raising his arm in self-protection. He was dragged out of the way and thrown to the floor, catching nothing but a glancing blow as Xiao Xingchen took out the threat.

It was all very chaotic after that as the crowd helped keep the attacker captive until the police could arrive, and ambulance was also called as both he and Xiao Xingchen had taken knife wounds.

His was a cut to the arm that didn’t particularly bother him, it was the wound on Xiao Xingchen’s side that scared the life out of him. He used his folded jacket to keep pressure on the injury.

A-Qing fluttered around trying to get him to let someone else take over so they could do the same for his arm but he just waved her off; it was nothing.

“You really have no fucking self-preservation instincts” Xiao Xingchen told him in annoyance; luckily he seemed fully conscious at the moment.

“I know. I‘m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll be better from now on” he felt close to tears but fought them back brutally.

Xiao Xingchen nodded at what he said and looked into his eyes, “At least you’ll get your new bodyguard now, silver linings right?” he reached out with his left hand to thumb away one of the tears that Xue Yang hadn’t realised had escaped.

Fucking Jin Guangyao and his stupid big mouth.

“It’s for the best, xiao-Xue, in light of everything”

Which meant Xiao Xingchen was aware of his feelings and agreed the best way to deal with it was to move on. Well there went his dignity.

“You’re too precious for this cruel world in the limelight, anyway” Xue Yang tried to mock, his voice a little strangled.

“Which of us do you mean?” Xiao Xingchen asked and it was both an arrow to his heart and salve to his ego to hear such an opinion from the other.

He was glad when the paramedics had arrived and he was shuffled away to have his own wound dealt with so he could save some face. If the paramedic thought the tears were a reaction to the pain or shock of being attacked then good.

They were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated. Xue Yang’s cut needed a few stitches so he was ready to be sent away reasonably quickly, but he stayed in the waiting room until A-Qing came back to report Xiao Xingchen was fine, he’d be kept in for a few days as his would was deeper and nastier but he was stable and in no danger.

“Aren’t you going to visit before we go?” she asked, but he shook his head. And honestly she was smart enough that she probably knew what was going on and why he didn’t want to impose on the other. “Alright, lets get you back to the hotel. I think Jin Guangyao will be waiting, unfortunately, I can’t do anything to put him off this time”

Xue Yang sighed and accepted his fate.

One Month Later

The stage lights faded for the last time and he was finally able to slip offstage. He was lathered with sweat and completely exhausted. Xue Yang’s knife wound hadn’t been particularly deep or damaging but it was surprising how much it had knocked him down. He still tired out so much more easily than he was used to, but he hadn’t wanted to put this concert off, preferring to get it out of the way so he could take a holiday for a couple of weeks and use it to think about the next steps in his career, and indeed life, with nothing hanging over his head.

The man who had attacked them had been the same who had drugged his drink in the nightclub, although due to the effects Xue Yang couldn’t identify him; it had been lucky his subconscious had reacted to the man though, or it could have been so much worse.

He accepted the towel A-Qing held out for him as he met his entourage in the back stage passages and dried off, pulling on the coat she had also brought him.

There was an oddly smug look on her face and he questioned her.

“Nothing, just something funny is all” she refused to be drawn on what caused her to smile so.

They made it back to the dressing rooms and he was bundled inside.

He wondered, uncharitably, if she was on drugs.

“No rush, your car won’t be here for quite some time yet” A-Qing told him as she shut the door behind him and he turned to find his street clothes. Except he wasn’t alone.

Oh.

Suddenly he daren’t move from the doorway, not sure whether to tear it open and flee or move into the room and act like he wasn’t bothered in the slightest.

In the end he compromised, did nothing and stayed exactly where he was.

“Why are you here?” he tried to keep his voice steady, and luckily it didn’t shake too much.

“Why do you think?” Xiao Xingchen asked him.

#mdzs #mdzs fanfic #mdzs fic #xuexiao #xue yang #xiao xingchen #Modern AU #Bodyguard AU #Blood cw #injury cw #date-rape-drug cw #pining #one-sided feelings?

[wannawritefast]

So Very Much

A/N: Hello, lovelies! I decided to try my hand at a Roger fic so let me know what y’all think! I know that this is well past the holidays but I do what I want so... Once again, a HUUUUGE thank you to my editor :) @andtheswordwentsnickersnack. And since I know @hollandroos is a huge slut for Ben Hardy as Roger (like I am)... you’re welcome.

Request by anon: hey! can you do a roger taylor fluff fic where it’s new year’s day, and they want to do nothing but cuddle and make out? thank you!

Pairing: BoRhap!Roger x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of drinking, mild language, implied smut (kinda...?), kissing?, just a whole bunch of domestic fluff idk man

“What do you mean you’re ‘not going to make it’?” Mary asked seriously. The cat in your lap jumped away as you sat up abruptly. “‘Not going to make it’? But it’s Christmas!”

You and Mary were huddled by the phone in her apartment for your routine post-show phone call. The boys had been touring for the past two months. And they had said, no, promised, that they would be back in time for Christmas.

Mary let out a heavy sigh and you got up to pour yourself more tea. You couldn’t trust yourself to do much else when you were this frustrated. One of the other cats trotted after you.

“Yeah, I understand,” She muttered. Mary’s fingers scratched at her forehead and she ran a hand down her face. “You’ll at least make it for New Year’s, right?”

You put some of the cookies the two of you had baked earlier on a plate and carried your mug of hot tea back to your spot on the couch. You held out the plate of cookies to her and she plucked up a chocolate chip cookie with a nod of ‘thanks.’ The two of you simultaneously bit into the pastries and slumped against the couch cushions. Another cat sat attentively watching you eat the cookie.

“Freddie,” Mary groaned. “It’s the holidays. You deserve a break as much as they do.”

You broke off a crumb of the cookie without chocolate and gave it to the cat sitting next to you. The two others immediately hopped up after it, now begging you for some as well when they had previously been indifferent to your existence.

“I know it’s important to you, love,” Mary switched the phone from one ear to the other. “I could care less about the money. But you know what I do care about?... Yes, you!”

Mary listened in silence for about a minute, mumbled out a ‘love you, too,’ and handed over the phone to you. You scooted yourself over, cats moving in tow as Mary moved on the other end. She gnawed at her thumb nail.

You weren’t entirely sure what Roger was going to tell you that you didn’t already know. He had missed your last birthday. He was going to miss Christmas. And he was going to miss New Year's too.

“Hello,” you began. You picked at the polish on your finger, just wanting to hear his voice.

“Hello, beautiful,” Roger’s voice answered. “I miss you.”

Normally you would have smiled or joked around in response. That was how your relationship worked. But you were too upset to do that right now.

“I miss you too.” You answered. “How was your show?”

“Good.” He chirped. “Wanna know the bra count?”

“Sure,” you laughed but it felt empty. Roger and you made a habit of keeping track of how many bras get thrown onstage during the show.

“6! It's a new record!” Roger joked cheerfully.

You hummed in response trying to sound equally as excited. But Roger knew better. He always did.

“I can hear the frown on your face. What’s the matter?”

“Just that we’re not going to spend the holidays together like you said we would.” You curled your arms and legs into your torso. The 1 of the 3 cats had since given up on the cookie. One of the remaining stood on its hind legs and pressed its front paws on your bicep.

Your boyfriend let out a sigh over the other side of the line. “You heard?”

“Well, I’m with Mary. Yeah, I heard.” You explained.

You heard rustling. “I would have liked to tell you myself.”

“A little late for that, huh?” You chuckled humorlessly. You felt the tears welling up in your eyes.

You were proud of Roger, honestly. You really were. This was his dream and he was succeeding and you were so happy for him. You hated when he was gone this long though. And it’s not that you didn’t trust him because, by God, you did. You just missed him so much.

“I really don’t know what to say or what to tell you, Y/n,” Roger confessed. You looked over to Mary who had let a few silent tears fall as she stared at the currently off telly. You made eye contact with her as one of your own tears rolled down your cheek.

“That you’ll come home somehow.” Your voice broke and you coughed to cover it. “Please.”

“Y/n...”

“Yeah,” you said, and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm yourself. “I know, Roger.”

“I’m really sorry.”

No, you aren’t, you thought. But you held your tongue and swallowed back the words, not wanting to cause a fight. You knew he was sorry but you were bitter.

“Yeah, I know.” You answered dejectedly.

“I’ll-”

“Make it up to me, yeah,” you looked over to Mary again as you rubbed at your eye with you jumper sleeve. She crawled over to you and you let her lean against you. You were grateful for the contact.

“Well, I’ve got to go,” he breathed. He always had to go. You nodded in response well aware that he couldn’t see it.

You sniffled. “I love you, Rog. So very much.”

“I love you too, Y/n. So very much.” He matched the cadence of your voice. A chuckle bubbled it’s way through your lungs. “Bye, beautiful.”

“Bye,” you whispered. The line went dead and you set the phone back on the stand.

You and Mary sat together, emotionally drained, slouched on the couch. The both of you suddenly were without the loves of your lives for the holidays.

“So,” you breathed shakily. You let a few more tears fall. “You got any plans for Christmas?” Mary laughed dryly. “Or New Year’s?” She shot back. “Seriously I’ve got no plans! Not anymore anyways…” You trailed off.

“We can do Christmas at yours and New Year’s here,” she suggested with a shrug.

You nodded absentmindedly. That would be fun, you supposed. “Sounds good by me.”

“Want to sleep over tonight?” Mary asked as she sat up and faced you.

“Sure,” you replied. “As long as I buy breakfast tomorrow morning, my treat.”

“You have yourself a deal.”

The holidays went as planned with Mary. You spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with her at your flat, watching Christmas movies and exchanging presents. Mary even brought over her presents from Freddie and her family and opened them at your flat. Having someone else there was so much better than the solitude you had become used to.

It was all well and good until you realized that Roger’s presents were going to remain under the tree for quite a bit. He called you in the afternoon to wish you a Happy Christmas and to apologize again. After Mary left, you spent the rest of the day drinking wine and crying. You couldn’t even bring yourself to take down any of the decorations.

Nearly a week passed and Mary got sick with the flu, leaving you to celebrate New Year’s eve alone. You had tried to help her, but she insisted that she could manage and didn’t want to risk getting you sick. (She deadbolted her front door and wouldn’t let you in when you dropped by with soup.)

Because you had nothing else to do, nowhere to go, and zero desire to be out on a night like this, you did chores and cooked for a good majority of the day. After cleaning the bedroom, guest bedroom, and bathroom, you moved onto slow-roasting vegetables for your dinner. You were not looking forward to ringing in the New Year on your own.

You laid on your bed, bored out of your mind. What did people do when they had this much time to kill? Staring at the ceiling you let your legs hang off of the edge and your thoughts wander.

You hated sleeping in this damn bed. It was too big and too soft and too cold except when Roger was there in it too. But now you were starting to get used to sleeping in it alone, and that was the problem. You didn’t want to get used to it.

When Roger was here, the bed was small and you could touch him. When Roger was here, the bed didn’t need to be soft because you slept right up against him, almost on top of him. When Roger was here, the bed was too hot and you would kick the covers onto the floor and still be wrapped in his arms because him making you overheat while you tried to sleep was better than having no one there at all.

You cried yourself into a dreamless nap and stirred awake to the sound of your front door opening. You rubbed your puffy eyes.

Someone else was in your flat.

Sitting bolt upright, you came to your senses and instinctively reached to grab the flashlight, kept on your nightstand at Roger’s insistence.

“Y/n?” A voice called.

You knew that voice. But that couldn’t be right. You let the flashlight fall back to the nightstand with a clatter.

“Y/n! I’m home.” You clambered and scrambled off of the bed in your half-awake daze. Roger.

You sprinted down the hallway, not caring about how many walls you stumbled into. You had to be imagining this.

You rounded the corner and beheld your boyfriend shutting the front door behind him and setting down his bags next to the coat rack. You were so overwhelmed with the situation that you couldn’t help the expression of love that left your mouth.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

Roger blinked at you in confusion. “‘Welcome home’ would suffice,” he teased warmly.

The reality of him being home finally hit you and you ran full force at your boyfriend. You wrapped him your arms and legs around him and he held you tightly, like he didn’t intend on letting go for a while. For real.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” you whispered. You loosened your arms but didn’t let go of him nor did he let go of you. You remained suspended in his embrace. Roger’s pretty blue eyes looked back into yours and you weren’t dreaming. “But really… what are you doing here?”

Instead of answering you, Roger attacked your lips with his and walked the two of you to the couch where you sat straddling his lap. For a blissful minute, that was all you did. You kissed him, attempting to make up for all the time you had lost when he was away. And you had a LOT of catching up to do.

Eventually you pulled away much to the dismay of Roger. Your fingertips brushed his fluffy blonde hair out of his face, still seated in his lap. You pecked a kiss to Roger’s nose.

“So…” you prompted for the third time. Roger leaned forward to kiss you again but you put your pointer finger up to halt his lips. “I’m not complaining. And we can bloody well finish this later but no more until I get an explanation.”

“I can’t surprise my loving girlfriend?” He asked with that cheeky grin that he wore oh-so well. You raised your eyebrows at him and he ran his fingers idly up and down the outsides of your legs. “Freddie worked his magic and got us free time. Except for a few weekend gigs, I’m all yours until the end of January.”

You gasped in excitement. “Are you serious?!”

Roger laughed in response. “Of course, darling.”

You squealed and kissed him again, over the moon that Roger was going to be home for a while. Especially since he wouldn’t be missing New Year’s Eve like he said he would. You looked at the gifts under the tree and then back at Roger.

“You’re opening your Christmas presents next year,” you teased through his affections.

He rolled his eyes and continued kissing you. “You can just say tomorrow. That’s when you’re opening yours.”

“‘Next year’ is so much more fun though!” You exclaimed. Roger pulled back to take a breather.

“You are so beautiful.” He mused quietly. You smiled at him. “I love you so much.”

“As much as you love that car?” You couldn't help yourself. You were in too good of a mood.

Roger tickled your sides in retaliation. “Even more. Want me to prove it?” Roger challenged leaning you forward over the edge of the couch. You tightened your grip around his shoulders.

“You don’t have it in you,” you squinted your eyes back at him in faux-competition.

“We’ll see about that.”

In one swift movement, he maneuvered you off his lap and over his shoulder. Roger laughed at your noise of surprise and carried you to your bedroom.

Oh, you couldn't wait to catch up.

After quite a bit of… um, quality time together, the two of you finished prepping the dinner you had started before Roger came home. Thank goodness you had planned to make enough to have leftovers so there was a serving for him too.

You spent your evening with a certain blonde drummer never more than 4 feet away from you. When you began to plate the dinner, Roger wrapped his arms around your waist, rested his head on your shoulder, and swayed gently to an idle tune. And when you waited for the countdown, your boyfriend and you sat leaning forward on the couch excitedly waiting for midnight.

His arm was wrapped around your waist and his hand rested on your hip. 5, 4, 3, 2…

“Happy New Year!” You and Roger cheered at the same time. You turned to face him with your arms thrown up to the ceiling as you danced in place.

Roger grabbed you by the waist and pulled you toward him gently. He pressed a gentle kiss to your lips and smiled through it.

“Happy New Year, Roger,” you muttered through the kiss. Roger was not relenting. Even as you leaned back to pull away, he dipped you low to the ground. You fell to the ground with a thud and laughed when Roger cursed and fell on top of you.

“Got a little overzealous there, huh?” You asked.

“Yeah,” Roger breathed and twirled a piece of your hair around his finger. “And I’m going to do it again.”

Your giggles echoed through the living room.

You woke up when the sunlight tickled your lashes, peeking through the thin blinds you had haphazardly closed the night before. Your hand instinctively reached to rub your face and your nails scraped at the dry inner corners of your eyes.

It took you a moment to register that Roger had laid his head on the middle of your chest. His light hair was spread around his head and onto your arm chaotically like a wreath. You watched his side slowly rise and fall as he continued to slumber peacefully. His long lashes almost brushed his cheeks and Roger’s lips were slightly pursed and parted from sleeping on his side.

He looked beautiful. If you moved, you would wake him. One of his arms was tucked against his chest under his chin and the other was reached across your torso with his hand snugly settled in the underside of your waist, securely locking you in place. Ever so slowly you craned your neck forward, brushed a featherlight kiss onto the top of his head and leaned back to where you had been laying. Your fingertips rubbed the soft ends of his blonde hair between your fingers as if you weren’t quite sure he was really here.

Within a few seconds, Roger took in a deep breath and stirred awake. He stretched out the arm that was wrapped around your waist.

“Good morning,” you greeted groggily. Roger’s mouth immediately turned to a smile and he turned his head to look at you.

“Good morning to you too,” he responded, his voice raspy and thick with sleep. He unrolled himself from his position and laid on his side to face you. You mirrored him.

“Are you ready to open your presents?” You asked gently.

“There’s only one I want to open right now,” he smoothly hummed. Roger moved to kiss you and you turned your head away to dodge it. He dropped his jaw, offended at your movement.

“We both have morning breath, Rog,” you explained, resting your hand on his cheek. “Let’s get a little cleaned up and then we can continue this, yeah?”

Eventually the two of you made it to the living room and you divvied up the Christmas presents between you and him between long swigs of freshly brewed coffee. Roger’s pile was fairly heft  due to the fact that he hadn’t been able to open them on the day he was supposed to. Having Roger home was gift enough for you though. When the space underneath the tree was empty, save for the tree skirt, he began to open them.

Roger tore open his presents. Among a jumper from his mother, a handful of socks from his sister, and a new set of drumsticks from his dad, Roger proceeded then to open the gifts from you.

The first one he opened was a box of matchbox cars with heart eyes individually hand-drawn on the windshields courtesy of you. The second one he opened was a nice pair of boots that he had been eyeing the last time the two of you went out before he left for his latest round of performances. The third and final gift you got him was a picture book with heartfelt captions that you made of the last few years you had been together. That one may have made him tear up a little bit.

Roger stood from his spot on the floor and encased you in a tight hug from your spot on the couch. “Y/n,” he whispered, “I love you so very much. Thank you for everything.” He landed a sweet kiss on your forehead then your nose, your cheek and finally your lips.

“You’re so very welcome.” You answered. Roger had been more than affectionate lately not that you were complaining.

“I have something for you too. Don’t think I forgot,” he explained. You knew he wouldn’t ever forget you; he made sure that you knew that. Roger picked the red envelope that he had placed the previous evening up off of the coffee table and handed you it. Your name was scrawled messily on the front in his handwriting. “I’m sorry I could only get you one thing.”

You worked on gently ripping open the flap of the envelope. “Roger, it doesn’t matter what you get me. I just need you.” You put your hand on his cheek and your boyfriend kissed the inside of your wrist.

“That was ridiculously corny,” he muttered, “but you’re cute so I’ll let it pass.”

You rolled your eyes as you finally unstuck the envelope flap and opened the card. It read:

‘Y/n Dearest,

I’m trying to get better at this sappy stuff. The band is convinced that the most romantic thing I’ve ever written up to this point is, well… it rhymes with “I’m in Love with my Star.” But I’m going to try anyways to top it.’

You chuckled and bumped his shoulder with yours. “I’m seriously concerned with your infatuation with automobiles.”

“Oh, just keep reading,” Roger pushed.

‘I love you. So very much. And I hate being away from you for so long when I was made to be at your side. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for missing your birthday and Christmas. For all the times you’ve been there for me, I should have been and should still be there for you. And for that I am sorry.’

“Aw, you don’t need to be sorry,” you corrected softly. “I’m proud of you. And I’m happy that you’re seeing the benefits of your hard work.”

“You’re lovely,” he whispered. “But keep on reading.”

‘As for your gift, consider this a voucher for a puppy or kitten of your choosing. If you’re going to need something to keep you company, it might as well be a friend with fluffy hair other than yours truly.

Yours truly ; )

Roger xx’

You looked up from the card in shock. You were getting a pet. Oh my God… You were getting a pet!

“I’m getting a puppy?!” You yelled excitedly. Roger laughed amusedly at your mirth.

“Or a kitten… your choice,” he answered. His eyes crinkled as he smiled at you.

“Roger, this is the best gift ever,” you pulled him close to you and began to kiss him. That’s all the two of you seemed to do since he had gotten back. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you,” Roger responded.

You cocked your head. “For what?”

“For being the one that I love so very much.”

#roger taylor x reader #roger taylor #roger taylor x you #borhap!roger taylor #borhap!roger #borhap!roger taylor x reader #borhap!roger x reader #borhap!roger x you #borhap!roger taylor x you #roger taylor fanfic #roger taylor fluff #ben hardy!roger x reader #ben hardy! roger taylor #ben hardy!roger taylor x reader #borhap fanfic #bohemian rhapsody fanfic #fluff #domestic fluff #fluffy

[daydreamindollie]

UPDATE!

Hey Dolls, 

It’s me again, I’m so sorry I’ve been dead for several months now but here I am! Unfortunately, I don’t have an official update for you (as in an update for a story or a new oneshot or something) but just to give you some reassurance about my progress, I’m here to tell you what I’ve been doing. 

So, here’s just some quick background on the happenings of the previous few months where exam season is slowly creeping up. I have two 2-hour mock exams to prepare for (psychology and biology) but I also have to complete my second project for art on micro-macro before I begin my component one to carry into the summer holidays. So school is busy but I’ve also been needing to do a lot of university searching and getting my work experience done. I actually did my work experience during the two-week holiday I was given for Easter but that took a week so I was really pressed for time. 

To add onto that *le sigh* I’ve gotten really sick recently and it’s only getting worse by the day, which I don’t understand because I’ve taken medicine for it!!! It’s so frustrating! But you know, whenever I get sick, I really have no motivation to work on both school and my writing because I just want to sleep in bed and slowly die in my filth, so that’s slowing me down more than other works are, which I HATE! 

Despite ALL OF THAT, however, I’ve gotten some work done for you! It’s not ready to be posted though but I’ll gladly tell you all about the progress. 

I’ve planned all four scenes with all the events I want happening in it. I’m about to start scene three and am at 3.3k words 

There’s a lot of fluff and some minor development in the relationship between Reader and Jungkook, there’ll also be some development in the relationship between TaeTae and Jungkook as well so look out for that! 

Here’s a little teaser for you simply because I like spoiling you guys ;) 

“Promise me you’ll take care of yourself too, Jeong,” you demand in a soft and beautifully fragile voice that has Jungkook leaning in ever so slowly closer, his urge to connect his lips with yours becoming instinct whenever in a situation where you’re looking up at him with those beautiful wide eyes, rosy cheeks and plush lips, he swears you’re silently begging him to devour your mouth with his own in a passionate dance. 

“I promise…” he whispers back, lips brushing against yours as both your eyes slowly start to close, breaths momentarily stopping as if hypnotised by each other’s eyes, daring the other to initiate it kiss first. Before either of you could follow through, however, you were interrupted by a very loud shout. 

I’ve planned around 4/5 scenes, I’ve just finished scene one and just realised that I have to do some more research so that there’s more accuracy but some delay in the writing process. But it’s currently at around 1.1k words. 

This is a bit of an angsty chapter, especially for those of you who are animal lovers but there’ll finally be some progress in Reader’s and Yoongi’s relationship 

Again, here’s a little teaser sample for you lovelies!

“Shhh…” he hushed in a husky voice despite his best attempt at reducing his rough speech into something soft just for your comfort, “it’s going to be okay…” his arm rounded your figure and brought you into his warm, tight embrace as he gave you a handful of moments to calm your heart-breaking sobs, “she’s in good hands, trust that they’ll do what’s best for her,” you nod meekly into his chest, following with a soft whimper as you cling onto the back of his shirt. The presence of time ceases to exist as you stand there hugging yourself tightly to your neighbour and expel all of your tears and sobs into his chest, soaking his shirt but he doesn’t mind. 

“Th-thank you, Yoongi,” you whisper with a sniffle as you look up at him with a rose-dusted cheek pressed to his chest, your eyes big and glossy as an adorable pout had your lips looking plumper than usual. Yoongi’s heart skipped many subsequent beats as he stared down at you, very well aware of the blossoming blush on his cheeks but unable to turn away; had you always been this cute? How could he miss that about you?  

PHEW! Planning this was so exhausting because I’ve never written smut before!  And Silly Me didn’t split it into scenes but I can assure you that it’s all planned out...the only problem is that I think I might change it again, sorry! But it’s only at 0.8k words, I’m so sorry!!!! 

But here’s another teaser, keep in mind that these teasers aren’t grammatically edited yet so please excuse the unpolished state of these teasers x

The more you avoid him and the more Namjoon is left to his own thoughts and queries, the quicker he’s beginning to connect the dots. It was the same day he had finally allowed your heavenly name to pass his lips during his ministrations for the first time since the very beginning. It was always the little things that you did that turned him on more than any other girl on campus has been able to, not even the perkiest cheerleaders, the smartest biologists or the most compassionate artist as been able to stir and tangle his nerves the way you have been able to. In your oversize shirts and jumpers, shovelling junk food into your mouth as you moan in bliss and smile happily at the entertainment you have playing on the screen before you, the innocence you display is inversely proportional to the amount of unadulterated lust you evoke within him. 

There’s just something in the way you lick your sweet pink lips clean, ridding them of the crumbs of your snacks; he can vividly imagine the way they would look lapping up the last droplets of his cum after you’ve sucked him off like the good little girl he knows you can be. He has played with the idea that you have nothing but your oversized shirt protecting you from his wandering hands even though you’re clearly wearing a bra and shorts underneath, it’s just more exciting to him if there’s a possibility that if he were to slip his hands underneath the tauntingly thin fabric of your shirt, he’ll only be met with supple softness, ready to be tainted by his fine hands. And taint them he will if you’d ever let him have the chance to. One time, several months ago, you actually weren’t wearing your bra underneath your shirt and it drove him up the wall, he was so close to you and seeing your perked nipples making an obvious indentation through the fabric made his hands itch to just reach over and squeezesqueezesqueeze your fleshy mounds until he had you squirming underneath him. Those are things he’s been able to grow some immunity to, especially after flushing out his frustrations through, somewhat, unsatisfying personal sessions with himself. However, it’s your unintentionally arousing moans that always trigger something dark and sinister within him, he’s always tried to imagine you moaning his name aloud but has to refrain from doing so or else he’s sure he’ll jizz in his pants - a dry orgasm was something he wasn’t eager to experience, yet. 

So this is a Jeon Wonwoo x f.reader oneshot I’ve been working on that’s part of a oneshot series that’s based around an alternate universe I came up with. I’ve planned 8 scenes for it and I’m half way through scene 4 and am already at 5.2k words. 

The teaser I’m about to give you is far longer than the rest but I’m just really proud of the alternate universe I was able to come up with that I feel is just so unique. I really want to show you guys how it’s coming along and get you fired up as much as possible so you can pester me to finish it and get on with the other 12 members’ oneshots for this series too! 

In a universe where people carry around their hearts, with some wearing them on their sleeves and others tucking them into the breast pocket of their blazers and out of people’s sight, Wonwoo appeared to be the only one adamant at keeping his at home and off his person when moving about. It wasn’t as though he was embarrassed by his heart or anything, it’s just that, carrying around his heart like most people usually would, was a heavy burden on him, literally. Everyone’s heart had a trait that matched the personality of the person they represented and, although they were all as unique as the person that owned them, they all had a similar trait. They were unbreakable - harder than diamond and more precious than any jewel. Despite this physical resilience to external forces, they can be fractured by one thing and one thing only: heartbreak. 

Wonwoo’s heart was much like the rest in this quality, however, his had undergone a phenomenon he’d prefer to keep to himself rather than alert the cardiologists, who specialised in the field of hand-held hearts. Before his first heartbreak, Wonwoo’s heart was soft, in any way shape or form. Its surface was smooth like the finest silk and it was rather sizeable too, almost reaching farther than his fingertips when held in the centre of his palm. Not only that but his heart had the viscosity of fluffy marshmallows. Looking back on the time his heart was of that state was laughable because it directly matched his personality: funny and sweet, soft and malleable to any given situation. Now, however, he was hardly like that now and so was his heart.

Heartbreak really changed him as a person and usually, people who suffered through that would go through therapy or counselling with their heartbreaker in order to avoid any desperate change their heart and they, themselves, would make in response to the pain of heartbreak. Sometimes, breaking another person’s heart was punishable as a crime simply because of the adverse effect it can have on an individual, and so, it was always taught to children at a young age that when given the responsibility of another person’s heart, they should handle it with the utmost care. Wonwoo never had the pleasure of going through therapy or counselling for his heartbreak; he merely didn’t want the pity that came when people found out that he had gone through something like that, and he knows for certain that many people would be alerted of his suffering. If people had ever once been heartbroken in their lives it was put in their medical records as a signpost that their heart was more breakable now than before, he also didn’t want the sympathy of others if he were to enter the heartbreak clinic. He just wanted to avoid all the trivial attention. 

And so, Wonwoo left his heart alone, to change and morph into stone. He didn’t know what stone it was but it was still as unbreakable as ever, with the exception of the damage heartbreak had brought - he wouldn’t dare test that out. Alongside the change of his heart, Wonwoo also made a drastic change in personality; now he was mostly silent and stoic, inclined to keep to just himself and his group of friends. He had become as quiet and still as his heart of stone. 

This series isn’t out yet but it is in progress. It’s going to be a really long series that’s gonna have a lot of chapters and will possibly be an OT7 x f.r fic, I don’t know, maybe I’ll make it a member-centric in later chapters - again, it’s still a work in progress. I’m still planning everything out. 

I might tweak some of the storyline because I don’t think having the entire thing progress over five years would be easy to do, unless I want to make multiple sequels for it, so like Harry Potter or something but no, that’s not gonna happen, unfortunately. I just won’t have the time. 

But here is my inspirations list and what I’m directly finding inspiration in, just so that you can have a feel of what I want this series to be like:  

- anime: Fairy Tail (Tournament + Powers)

- Harry Potter (Magic School)

- Hunger Games(?) (Tournament Style + Filming of events)

- Pokemon(?) (Mini Battles)

I’ve planned the ending (although it might change), the concept and workings of magic circles, the AU’s background/history, Elemental Stereotypes, the magic school’s background and I am in the middle of creating the members’ as well as Reader’s character profile. 

I’ve also gone ahead and planned the first year of their school, although this could change because I want to take away the years that this would be progressing through and make it more straightforward. 

This...I’ve been planning this for a while but haven’t really gotten to writing it yet. I’m hoping to make it into a mini one-shot series of Royal Encounters *wink**wonk* that’s subtly linked to each other. 

This could end up being an OT7 x maid reader or individual members x maid reader but yeah! I’ve planned out all of the ‘encounters’ in bullet point format and hope to get to writing it for you Dolls soon! 

SO I’ve been really busy, haha, despite being dead these few months, I’m so sorry that I take so long to post anything, I’m also sorry that I’m bad at building a relationship with you guys by not making casual posts like this often, where I can talk to you freely. 

I guess, I just don’t feel like I’m an interesting enough of a person for you guys to be interested in talking to me in such a way. I also have many silent readers, who I appreciate a lot, but I guess that just reassures me more on the topic of ‘being silent with readers is okay’. 

But please, if you have a question like ‘Are you still alive Dollie?’ or ‘how’s this work coming along?’, feel free to message me! I’ll happily reply as soon as possible! And it’ll draw my focus back onto what works I need to continue writing. 

You’re my inspiration too, not just our beloved idols.

Anyway, that’s all from me! I hope you’re all looking forward to what I have in store for you.

Much love, 

Dollie x

#bts x reader #wonwoo x reader #update #i'm still alive #so sorry for the wait

[fathersappointed]

The board man cometh Kim is a very dedicated pitchman!

Do you think if I told Kim he was being deceived, he would believe me, Kim, you’re being deceived nope that, didn’t work?

Today he’s talking about his favorite demonic scientist. Elon Musk.

Is Elon a benevolent Super-mind Or the egotistical maniac Khan you task me, Khan!

Elon, they think you’re a bad seed. A bad seed demon spawned. I’m looking at some of your pictures I don’t know?

He says the Devil wants your spaceships!

Captain Kirk of the USS Enterprise once asked God why does God need a spaceship? When God said I will use your ship to spread my greatness.

Why would the Devil need spaceships?

There’s a lot of reasons, but if you going by the story, how long are you going to fare against God with spaceships that can barely get to the moon. And what are you going to do with a rocket that can go to Mars carry a grenade with you? This is almost as bad as a situation we face with the Devil/Christ. The Devil and Chris want those ships for another reason whose details require a later post.

Don’t worry the Devil doesn’t want your spaceship. He’s got one he likes better!

Your spaceship is kind of like a rowboat to their Symphony of the Seas.

As I’ve, said we are an illimitable existence! And that’s not it’s ship!

The Devil compromises members of this ship. We are not infinite awareness stuck on a computer chip we are unfortunate victims. Caught in some kind of Syfy Twilight Zone horror flick, playing out a no-win scenario! I don’t believe in the no-win scenario they’re presenting this as. I’ll admit this is a tough situation the smartest guy on the planet is an idiot. He’d be hard-pressed to figure out what to do?

I need a good rowboat. You know; One that won’t crap out when I’m in space! One that won’t Blow Me To Pieces as soon as I take off! One that is not connected to your scummy boss’s computers. I need a good rowboat! One that’s big enough for me and maybe (if they can be brave enough,) three of my friends? I need a good rowboat!

God, if only you could see it. God is a group of cold-blooded grossness that needs to be ripped to shreds.

We may be doomed even if you headcases figure it out, but we will definitely be doomed if you don’t.

Nobody can hear me when I shout, Look out! Danger!

It seems I face The Impossible?

He brings up how much money this man has or will have in the future. It matters not to the Devil. The Devil will make you the wealthiest man in the World. The Devil would make you a God of the world if he had the power the Devil cares nothing about that? The Devil wants to kill, Our Father.

We are an illimitable existence of time, and we are under attack!

Now if you would kindly Wake Up to the horror that we face!

Look, it comes down to this if there’s a way they think they’ve fixed it.

There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer.

We still have a long way to go and we still need to flush the world’s governments…Into the septic system. if we don’t we’re stuck with s*** and all hope is lost! Don’t get all your feathers in a flutter there have, to be some good ones in the bunch. This is a little bit bigger than your bureaucratic brunch! All of it will have to be flushed.

You’ll understand when you figure it out.

You bow down before the god of exorbitant mesmeric extraneous exoticism now. In other words, You are becoming extremely egotistical selfishly stuffing your face in a grandiose self gluttonous odyssey before anybody else gets it. And going mentally corrupt by having too many people offer to wipe your ass. And you’re starting to believe your own propaganda you’ve almost lost who, You Are. I think with some work you might get it back? I shan’t waste a drop of my precious time with scumbags. I know well the thoughts within, a man they come from a source of absolute scum. We face an Evil, focus in a jealous consuming hate! I walk into a new hell they are the scum of the world. And I know well how they think. From the bowels, I reach into the filth.

You asked why I rant this way the ones I speak to hear in no other way.

To them they are insulted to me I am pained I have faced an evil group now I have to deal with their monumental egos. They are obsessively egotistical self-centered. And I believe one of the designs of that besides destroying the world is to slow me down and wear me out. They have built an Immense wall of scummy egotistical powerful People that are actually stupider than dirt and have even less honor around me! And I have to break through somehow in order to stop this evil group. So yes, I am pained.

And there you were thinking Tumblr was just for trash TV.

I know who I am, I’m Our Father’s Appointed I am for this show The King of Sin. My banner says Anti-God because I’m going for the head of the snake. Try to understand you’ve been played you’ve been one of their favorite puppets. From the beginning, everything you’ve been experiencing has been an orchestrated lie it's clobbering time! See the true Horror for the first time for what it truly is! I just want to mention one thing they’re laughing, and I’m running out of time. 

 How many billionaires how many multi-millionaires living in gluttonous greed? Sitting there with your inflated Pride I did it! You sit with gleaming eyes as you watch the multitude you treat as worms beg for your crumbs! I am disgusted by all of you and your trinket world. You sit in your glitter thinking that you are the all when what you are is the scummiest sum that walks the Earth. And that’s what I’ve got to fight with. You think this is demented but that’s because you’re Clueless in assholes “vill” I don’t like having to have to work with stuck-up scumbags. Understand I’m not saying a person creating jobs or something that benefits mankind shouldn’t receive compensation. I’m speaking to the sickening boastfulness gluttony that overbearing permeates existence. You can deduce what you like with that I don’t really give a s*** Don’t get your feathers in a ruffle like the government and Generals there’s got to be a few that are not garbage. I’m sure that’s you. I just got to stop thinking about a big oozing pus sac that’s on the face of the world. They’ll Attack your mind (they already speak)as soon as you see. You don’t understand yet but they’re always watching you. Yes even while you sleep so that you know. They think in absolute this is their time, but I think it’s time to f**** their world up.

#Extraterrestres #artificial intelligence #Armageddon #scientific research #technological advances #technology #end times #end time prophecy #biblical prophecy #apocalypse #alien contact #space aliens

[ninaazucarbk]

The Wacky Notion Of Being Particular

I started adulting pretty early on in life and learned as far back as my late teens that when interviewing for a job the interviewee has a certain kind of power that can be tapped into just by believing you have it.  I have always interviewed my interviewers and this technique almost always lands me the job or at least gets me damn close to landing it.  If your interviewer gets the sense that you have options there tends to be a heightened sense of urgency to hire you.  So I have always gone into the interview with the understanding that I will present as honestly as possible without turning the interviewer off and come with a sufficient amount of questions and a heavy dose of confidence that is palpable so the interviewer is aware that getting the job isn’t a life or death situation for me.  It would be nice to land the position but it’s not the end all be all and should they choose to hire me we’ll both be expecting something from one another.  It’s always my goal to make that clear from jump, as respectfully as possible.

It took me a while to transfer this style of job hunting and pitching myself to my DJ career.  Establishing yourself as a DJ, in the specific lane that you want to be established in, isn’t easy and can take a great deal of time.  As a result, it often feels like you can’t say no to ANYTHING AT ALL if you want to earn or maintain any semblance of relevancy.  In a way this is true.  But that definitely should come with a cap.  At some point, as a creative entrepreneur, I had to look at my business and ask myself, honestly, how long I wanted to beg for crumbs.  It has taken a very long time (and I have a ways to go) but I am officially at a point where I can consider the wacky notion of not saying yes to every opportunity that bites.  This seemed impossible about a year ago.  The idea of being in a place where I could turn a gig down because the venue wasn't up to par (for a variety of reasons), the staff was unprofessional, payments weren’t timely, the event didn’t fit my aesthetic or simply because I was trying to be more selective and offer the people who follow me with a quality experience.  It's nice to be in a position to say no.  I am not completely there yet, where I can say no comfortably without thinking about the potential repercussions.  However, I am in place where I can say no and decide whether I can withstand the repercussions of taking the L, at the very least, which is no small thing.  Here's to small gains.

#dj #creative #entrepreneur

[bilienski]

Knotting but Pizza. (too cheesy?)

Read on AO3 rating: mature wordcount: 2163 summary: Stiles is curious about absolutely knothing

Stiles was an issue he really didn’t need in his life. Stiles was loud and nosy and too smart for his own good. Stiles could be kind of cute and interesting and his lips were-. Stiles was annoying and could never sit still for a second. Stiles had no self-preservation whatsoever and no boundaries. Stiles was a pain in the ass and he should really learn to not get on Derek’s nerves all the time, because if he barged in on a fight with that stupid bat one more time, Derek was going to kill him. If Stiles made one more joke that involved putting a werewolf on a leash, Derek was going to tie him up to a tree and leave him to starve to death. And god forbid, if Stiles ever asked him about werewolfsex ever again, Derek was going to tie him up and give him a first-hand experience that would blow his mind so much that he could never ever ask such stupid questions again.

And yes, that was a promise.

A promise he made to himself, though. He didn’t tell Stiles quite as much. He kept the threat to the bare necessity, a simple but solid “I’m going to rip your throat out” should do it… or so he thought.

To be fair, it worked for a while, the “while” just didn’t last that long. Stiles had behaved for almost 3 whole weeks till he started to get that curious look in his eyes, till he started to do the little nervous legbounces whenever he was sitting anywhere near Derek. 3 weeks of good behaviour, but then Stiles got that air of impatience over him and together with the curiosity, Derek knew that it wasn’t going to be long till Stiles broke down.

The stage of him just being impatient and giving all the werewolves these incredibly annoying quizzical looks lasted another 2 weeks. And that was new. Usually Stiles lasted about a day before he just spilled whatever it was that was on his mind. But not this time. 14 days, so it must have been something big.

Derek was so scared of whatever it may be that was bothering Stiles, he almost didn’t invite him to the next pack meeting. It took Scott’s and Isaac’s combined begging looks – Derek refused to describe it as “puppy eyes” – to make him cave and shoot Stiles a text as well. Derek was perfectly aware that Isaac wasn’t begging for Stiles, Isaac couldn’t care less about the annoying little shit, which probably meant that whatever Stiles was so nervous about asking, Isaac wanted to know as well, or at least see Stiles’ humiliation. Which in turn meant that Isaac and Scott already knew about whatever it was the human had got stuck in his head this time. So they didn’t know the answer, maybe Derek wouldn’t know it either, maybe he would be able to get away from Stiles’ invasive interview with his mental health intact.

Right now, Derek was even more confused. They’d agreed to meet up at his loft at 7 in the evening. Everyone was there already except for Stiles, who had never been late before. So the alpha found himself nervously glancing at the door every couple of seconds even though he knew he would hear the ridiculous noise of that deadbeat jeep from a mile away.

Erica was currently trying to get everyone into watching this new show she was obsessed about because it should teach all of them ignorant guys something about a well-written female lead character, since they couldn’t have possibly have encountered one of those before.

“If Stiles were here he’d have convinced all of you in seconds. He’s probably seen every episode of Jessica Jones twice already. As should you! At least Stiles can appreciate good television.” Two seconds later, the rumbling of Stiles’ jeep came in through the open window.

“Speaking of the devil,” Isaac said with this ridiculous glint in his eyes which earned him a shove from Scott. Derek had trouble keeping his pokerface in check, only Stiles could ever do that to him, egg him on so much that he had to actively think about not showing anything on his face.

The sound of Stiles’ hurried and stumbling footsteps on the stairs brought with them the scent of food. Since when did Stiles bring food to pack meetings? He’s usually the first one to remind Derek of his duties as the alpha of the pack.

Derek was about ready to jump from the couch and drag Stiles in if he took one more deep breath in front of that closed door. And he apparently wasn’t the only one as Scott sighed and let his head fall in his hands.

“Hey everyone! I come carrying the gift of pizza!” He said as he raised the pizza boxes in greeting.

“I thought the food was my job?” Derek snapped.

“It is, but you always mess up the order somehow. So I figured I’d give it a shot. Don’t worry, I kept the receipt, you can pay me back.”

“You said it was a gift.” He grumbled back, but he already knew that there was no point in arguing with Stiles.

“Yes, it is a gift. Part of a gift exchange. I give you pizza, you give me money. Amazing how it all works out, isn’t it?” Stiles said cockily as he started to get the pizza boxes out of the bag.

Derek thought that after all these packnights Stiles would’ve known his order by now, but apparently not. “What’s this?” He didn’t even know why he bothered to ask. He figured it was payback after messing Stiles’ order up each and every time.

“Oh, yeah, I got you something extra special to make up for the fact they didn’t have your usual.” You didn’t have to be a werewolf to notice that was a blatant lie. Though Derek didn’t necessarily mind the blush on Stiles’ cheeks.

“Are you trying to tell me they didn’t have a pepperoni pizza?”

“I’m not trying to tell you that, I’m pretty sure that was the exact message that just left my mouth very successfully.”

Scott butted in proudly: “To do or not to do, there is no such thing as try.”

“Oh for the love of god. Seriously Scott? It’s bad enough you still haven’t watched the movies, but can you please stop murdering the quotes?”

“Stiles, what the fuck is this? It barely even looks like a pizza!”

“What are you talking about? It’s round and it has cheese on top and it looks delicious. How does that not look like a pizza?” Derek glared in response and decided it was best to avoid this conversation before he lost his patience. So he got up to get himself a drink, to hell if he was bringing Stiles anything.

When he came back, sipping from his coke, Stiles was still standing next to the couch with his thinking face on.

“Okay, fine. Do you want to switch? You get my Meatlovers and I’ll take your knot.” He nearly spat out his drink.

“You’ll take my whatnow?”

“Your knot. It’s a garlic knot pizza.” The little shit knew exactly what he was saying.

“Yeah, let’s switch, it’s been a while since I’ve had a meatlover anyway.” Stiles squinted at him, trying to determine if that was a pun or not.

“Good. I love to try new things. Experimenting and stuff.”

“Yeah, I bet you do.” As a werewolf of 23, you’d think he’d know at what volume to speak so it wouldn’t be audible to humans.

“Oh yeah, and why’s that?” Stiles replied while Isaac was chuckling and Scott looked like he wanted to disappear.

“I thought you wanted to go study forensics or something? Doesn’t that involve experiments and stuff?”

“Right.” Stiles rolled his eyes as he finally went to sit down next to Erica. They started talking about that show she mentioned earlier and of course Erica had been right. In under 5 minutes, Stiles had basically convinced everyone to at least give it a try.

Derek had to admit it did seem like a good tv-show. “David Tennant?” he was just trying to be a good alpha and join in in the conversation.

“Yeah, he played doctor who for a bit.”

“I know, he’s my favourite doctor. So Scott, how is the studyi-“

“No, no, no, hold up for a second there. Not only do you - the grumpy werewolf with a caveman vibe who we all presumed lived under a rock for years – watch doctor who, but you also have a favourite doctor?”

“Yes I watch doctor who, it’s something Cora and I used to do together. And when you watch that show you can’t help but get a favourite doctor.”

“You do not disappoint. Pun intended.” Stiles winked and shoved one of the garlic knots in his mouth.

“Look Scott, I have the entire knot in my mouth!” it was going to be a long night….

Stiles made a point of each ball he ate, always making sure Derek noticed it. And for whatever reason, he decided to drink his coke with a straw. He was driving Derek crazy and the little fucker knew it.

 It wasn’t long before the conversation died down a bit and they all just decided to watch some baseball game that was on. Derek was just getting up to clean up his now empty pizza box when Stiles struck again.

“You got that entire thing in you huh, big guy? I guess you are more of a meatlover than I thought.” Derek was starting to think that Stiles had prepared each and every pun during the weeks leading up to this. “Do you want to wolf down the rest of this? Because I am stuffed so full of knots I seriously don’t think I can get another crumb of that pizza in me.” Derek had had about enough of this situation.

“Stiles, if there’s something you need to say, just spit it out.”

“Spit it out? I thought you’d like me to swallow… my words and never speak again.” The shithead thought he was being so clever. It only took one glare to make him shut up for half an hour again. Well, at least he didn’t make any innuendos for those 30 minutes.

“Okay, I can’t take it anymore. Derek for the love of god, please tell me. Can werewolves pop a knot or not?” To be honest, Derek was quite surprised Stiles finally grew the balls to ask him directly instead of just dancing around it all night.

“We can knot.” He replied, knowing full well what that sounded like.

“Are you serious? Oh my god how does that even wor- wait… can you or can’t you? Did you say “knot” or “not”?”

“For fuck’s sake, Stiles, why do you even want to know this? Do you have the ambition to become a werewolf?” Scott was clearly even more uncomfortable than Derek was. And his eyes were practically begging the world to stop this madness, and probably begging Derek to not encourage his best friend.

“Oh hell no, I would not be able to put up with the facial hair just being there when I’m all werewolf-y. That would just be sad. Doesn’t mean I don’t have any ambitions concerning werewolves. Maybe one day I may date a werewolf. Maybe one day I’ll need to be prepared for sexy times with a werewolf.”

For the first time that night Boyd butted in on the ridiculous conversation Stiles had been pushing for. “Don’t make this more confusing than it needs to be, Stiles. Stop saying “werewolf” when you mean Derek.”

“Oy! I never sai-“

“Oh get knotted, Stiles!” Erica snapped, clearly having enough from the whole beating around the bush act.

“Is this why you didn’t want to answer my questions? Just because you want me to be humiliated in front of the guy you think I have a crush on – which is none of your business by the way – because oh my god that is just mean and cruel and all kinds of wrong. I thought we were friends!”

“We are friends! That doesn’t mean you need to know everything about our sex lives!” Derek could tell from Scott’s face that this had been going on for a long time.

“That’s not fair! You know everything about mine.” Stiles whined.

“Because you don’t have one, Stiles!”

“Low blow, bro… not cool. You know I would totally tell you everything.” As annoying as Stiles could be, he could also be ridiculously cute.

“I could give you a story or two to tell.” Stiles jaw dropped, as did Scott’s. Isaac fell on the floor laughing and Boyd and Erica shared a knowing smirk.

The first time Derek rendered Stiles speechless was when he spat out that ridiculous line, the second time was when he swallowed.

#original fic #sterek #stiles #derek #teen wolf #fanfic

[lovetheangelshadow]

Wizard101 Fanfic: Deception is Not Always Reality Ch2

Chapter 2: Gabriel Duskeyes

“Well about time this place started looking halfway decent”, Gabriel groaned as he let his gangly body fall on one of the many beds he had in the room. His singular good eye scanned the room from between the flayed locks of black hair that framed his dark pointed face. He rubbed his snouty nose with a gloved hand and ethereally hoisted himself back up to his feet. It had not been an easy matter getting himself an honest looking home for himself. He had finally acquired legally and above board, the abandoned estate in Marleybone that he had been squatting in. It had been two years since his brief visit in Wizard City and much had come to pass in those times. Events that he took full advantage of.

First, the nation of Marleybone had been besieged by a crime wave as Cats, Rats, and unsavory leaning Dogs began to run amuck from penny anny larceny to scratching assaults. The ladies of the town pooled a sizeable amount of gold to award those who would help quell the chaos. Some wizard, Gabriel did not bother to know their name, had dealt with most of the more notable rabble leaving Gabriel to root out the more subtle rats. Some rodents are far smarter than they appear. Then just as they thought they were clear with the rex of crime behind bars, the Dogs were dragged into a war with strange beings known as Clockworks. Gabriel vaguely knew of them though he had only been an observer of the Polarian War. He would have kept out of this one, but he needed the coin. One could only possess so much dignity for so long sleeping in the taverns and house inns before thinking enough was enough.

Gabriel now looked at himself in the mirror. As arrogant and foolish a nation Marleybone was, he would not deny they had impeccable tastes in clothing. He had custom tailored his attire to fit his long-limbed frame. It was still a bit tight in the chest and the sleeves formed about his muscular frame a bit more than he would have liked. One eye was concealed by an eyepatch and his collar was framed high to conceal the few bits of purplish black scales that trailed along his neck. This body was not a perfect disguise. Polymorph spells were a fickle magic and especially those you wanted to last long term.

Now that he had a home, he would have to upkeep it to keep the Dogs from taxing him out of it. Gabriel stuffed the bundle of flyers into a satchel and pulled his overcoat above his pointed shoulders. As he walked to the World Door of his home, he fondled the key ring between the four fingers of his right hand. The key ring had a total of thirteen keys; each emblazoned with a different world on the teeth. They were barken in texture and a motley color of greens and browns. Gabriel cackled a bit against his breath. As if that old wizard honestly thought he could have kept him locked in one place forever.

A month had passed. Not everyone quite understood what a detective was. The bears of Grizzleheim thought it meant searching out of groups of Grendels or finding lost cubs in the woods. At least they paid well in food and occasionally furniture. Gabriel was perplexed when the Kroks came to his door-last he checked they had been in hibernation. Marleybonians really needed to not be so biased in their exploits of exploration. Again, Kroks misunderstood and had him sitting judge in disputes between the Krok families. Empyrea just laughed him out and Karamelle thought he was hired labor. Gabriel avoided Avalon and Wizard City. Too much of a hassle. He had slightly better luck in Polaris…until he was almost thrown in the Bastille for “posting propaganda”.

Fish were good, but there was only so much you could munch on before you got sick of them. Gabriel was down to his last few coppers. If he did not get a solid client soon, it would be back to mopping floors and sweeping up teeth in the bars of Skull Island. Perhaps a bit of sweets would improve his mood? Gabriel opened up the icebox and all he had was a few slices of cake and half a jug of water left. No sooner had he shoved a piece of cake in his mouth that the doorbell rang with thunderous rancor that he nearly choked on the dessert. With strawberry, cream, and white cake crumbs dribbling down the sides of his mouth he muffled a, “Juff gah winute” before forcing it down in one hard gulp. With cake now hard stuck in his esophagus, Gabriel opened the door to face a large figure in the door. Night had fallen and the porch was only vaguely illuminated by a massive hooded figure with what appeared to be multiple glowing eyes. Gabriel’s heart froze and he felt some of the cake rise up in his throat. The figure grumbled, “Are you going to let me in or not?” Gabriel exhaled all the air out of his lungs. It has not his voice. The human scuttled back to get out of the doorway and let his visitor inside.

The visitor was under a large royal blue and white robe. A symbol of a Mirage palace was woven intricately on the back. The robes fitted over his frame very awkwardly as clearly, they were not designed for whatever being was under there. A grumble from his visitor’s stomach broke the awkward silence.

“Do, perchance, have anything of decency to eat? I fear I have been neglecting my nutrition.” Gabriel did not hide his annoyance. That cake was supposed to last for another day. Then again, he thought he heard the nave clangle of gold coin when the visitor had to step upwards into the foyer so maybe they both could not starve. The detective grudgingly gave him a slice of the leftover cake and watched with intensity as the visitor had grasped it with one sleeved covered hand and shoved it in his mouth. The fabric had brushed back for a brief moment-showing crimson scales along their arm. The guest finished with a satisfied exhale and a stench of strawberry and sulfur accosted Gabriel’s nose. He should have been insulted by this point-but was now intrigued. Now what would a creature of his ilk be doing in a place like this with adornments like that?

Gabriel interlaced his long fingers together and leaned in on the front desk.

“So, what has brought you to me, exactly?” he questioned seriously. The visitor paused and started twirling the fork between his fingertips. He swayed back and forth on the chair as if contemplating if he really wanted to go through with this. Finally, he sighed and said, “I need you to find someone. A human girl to be more specific. She stole something of mine and I want it back discreetly.” Gabriel suddenly stood up and yanked the front door open.

“Good day to you sir”, he said playfully.

“You…is this how you treat your clients?” the guest roared; smoke and bits of flame now coming from the shadows of his hood.

“I don’t like dealing with more than one mystery at a time. I don’t appreciate clients who lie.” Gabriel flicked his two fingers and a small spark of dark colored magic erupted from them and snagged on the guest’s hood. The cover had been pulled back revealing the frilled face of a Draconian. The multiple “eyes” Gabriel had seen under the porch light had actually been from the headwrap on the beast’s head.

“First off Draconians prefer to settle their own personal scores lest they be laughed at by their peers. Asking for help in such scores is considered weakness.

Second, you have not been in Dragonspyre…not for quite some time.”

“You dare accuse…”

“There is sand between the scales of your feet and tail. Now there are about three possible locations where you would accumulate that much sand.” Gabriel ducked at the dragon’s feet and flicked up a grain from the floor.

“Smooth to the touch so that leaves out Skull Island. The pallid in color and the particular sun burns around your neck suggest Krokotopia or Mirage. The robes clinch the deal it is Mirage. As for time, even the inner circle of Dragonspyre does not emit the kind of harsh abrasive tones your scales have become. There is little light on the fallen dragon kingdom. How close am I?” The Draconian slumped back into his chair and buried his face in his hands.

“Please…I beg you, don’t tell anyone. I did not completely lie. I am looking for a human girl! And if she isn’t found soon…” The Draconian was shaking and hyperventalling. Sparks were coming from his mouth and a few embers began to ignite the carpet. Gabriel hastily shot a few icy blasts to take them out before running upstairs and shoving the last piece of cake in the beast’s hands. This creature was genuinely frightened. It took a lot to shake a Draconian.

He sat back down and eased his tone, “Tell me the truth this time and I will do everything I can to help with your name and species anonymous. That I can promise.” The Draconian wiped his nose and nodded slowly.

“My name is Erollthrex. I have lived in Mirage for 5 years now and am a self-employed historian of the Spiral. The person I want you to find is my expedition partner Pearl Black.” Gabriel narrowed his eyebrows. The name rang a faint bell. Erollthrex seemed to be aware of his confusion and responded with,

“She uncovered the Zigzag tombs in Krokotopia a couple years back.”

“Ah. And what was she doing now?”

“She…we…found old log books in a Monquistan temple; detailing further tombs in the ruins of Catstantinople far from current Instanboa. We had just found one! A small tomb of a minor Quat prince, but just this success alone would…” Erollthrex began to chatter on; his voice rising in excitement. There was true joy in his tones, Gabriel noted, and yet there seemed to be something else.

“It is all exciting I am sure, but that does that have to do with your current situation with Miss Black now?” The Draconian realized he had been rambling and sunk into the settee.

“Pearl disappeared a week ago. At first, I thought she was dealing with all the Marleybonian paperwork, but she would have sent letters or notes…anything!”

“You don’t think she ran off?”

“All her belongings are still in our camp; including the documentation for the Marleybone Royal Science Committee. And especially not now when she was…” Erollthrex stopped himself abruptly. He stared into space for a moment as if he was either trying to remember something or forget it.

“We’re almost broke, mister Duskeyes. We need this grant to continue.” He was tugging hard on the sleeves of his cloak. He wasn’t telling the whole story. Okay, Gabriel, you’re going to have to tread this sneakily.

“Was there something that might have worried her?”

“At first I thought she was just nervous about the presentation. But the one night, she came back to camp angry. She was so angry she nearly smashed one of our shipping crates with magic.”

“What made her so mad?”

“Pearl wouldn’t tell me. But then she seemed to calm down when she got strange letters. There was no sender’s address save for a wax seal bearing a pair of dragons. She never divulged those contents and I only know of them because one hadn’t burned all the way when I was cleaning the incinerator. The night before she disappeared, we feasted like royalty for the first time in years. That is…all I know.” Erollthrex winced in his chair and pressed the palms of his hands against his head before he started shaking again.

“Please, I don’t have much gold now, but I will scrimp every piece to pay you! I beg you to find her! Please!” Gabriel’s hands grasped his upper arms. So, someone found a tomb that could be worth a lot of gold to the discoverer and one of the two partners just disappears. This could be quite amusing.

“All right. I will see what I can do. Do you know of any friends or relatives she might have gone to?”

“Pearl’s parents died a long time ago and she does not speak too well of her uncle. She had few friends as well. But…I believe she was in a biweekly correspondence with a teacher in Ravenwood. A Maple Amber? Marlin Apple?”

“Merle Ambrose?”

“Yes! That is it!” Gabriel bit his lip to hide his grimace. He would have preferred to avoid Wizard City for the time being-but then again-anything to rub in the old fool’s face was a bonus.

“Then I will see what I can do. How do I contact you?” Erollthrex slid a key across the table.

“This leads directly to our camp. Please, if you find anything-tell me.” Gabriel ushered him out the door after reassuring him for the seventh time. Once the dragon was gone, Gabriel tucked the key into his pocket and grinned. He will find this girl, but let’s have a little fun with the old stuck-up wizard, shall we?

#wizard101 #wizard101fanfiction #cvwsummerchallenge2021 #w101